


Sweet Like Candy

by Darling_No



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Alternate Universe, Background Poly, Background Relationships, But she's so confident in her bullshitting that even Yukio falls for it, Child Neglect, Coma, Daddy Issues, Demons, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Relationships, Everything was fine for Suguro until Godaiin stepped in, Exwire(s) (Ao no Exorcist), Female Okumura Rin, Getting Together, Girls are different from guys so here is my hot take on fem!Rin, Godaiin is Mr. Steal Yo Girl, Guns, He thinks she actually knows what she's doing, Light Angst, Mental Health Issues, Mephisto Pheles is a Little Shit, Most of these tags are for far in the future of this fic so do not mind them, Multi, Only Suguro and Izumo see through the wall of bs, Original Character(s), Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Character Death, Past Child Abuse, Past Relationship(s), Pop Culture, Rin honestly just bullshits her way through most things, Rin is a dork, Rin isn't as smart as I'm making her seem, The more Rin trusts and loves her friends, Trust Issues, Unethical Experimentation, and it works so she won't stop lmao, and that she has herself put together instead of being a Hot Mess, girls are just more observant than guys and use both sides of their brains, just wait, the more she flirts with some of them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:47:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 67,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27970268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darling_No/pseuds/Darling_No
Summary: This is genderbent Rin. Girls are hugely different from guys, we all know this, so a lot of things will obviously be different in some instances. This story follows the manga mostly, but I have changed certain things like the fate of Shiro. I hope you enjoy the story.
Relationships: Fujimoto Shirou/Suguro Tatsuma, Fujimoto Shirou/Suguro Tatsuma/Suguro Torako, Godaiin Sei/Okumura Rin, Kamiki Izumo/Okumura Rin, Okumura Rin/Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji, Yuri Egin/Fujimoto Shirou
Comments: 17
Kudos: 77





	1. Goodbye Future Plans

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this story for a while and working out plot points and where differences in the story would occur because of Rin's gender switch and my own headcanons and changes to the plot. 
> 
> The way I describe Rin is just to get the point across that she's stunningly pretty and despite that, all she sees herself as is a mess. It's not just sexist guys that write women like that. It's anyone who wants to emphasize it for whatever reason. Please enjoy the story!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been working on this story for a while and working out plot points and where differences in the story would occur because of Rin's gender switch and my own headcanons and changes to the plot. I hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> Also, the way I describe Rin is just to get the point across that she's stunningly pretty and despite that, all she sees herself as is a mess. It's not just sexist guys that write women like that. It's anyone who wants to emphasize it for whatever reason. Enjoy the story!!

Being told you're the daughter of Satan and being forced to go to High School and Cram School that you never wanted to go to all _suck._

For one thing, the Cram Classroom smelled disgusting and probably had several dead rats in it somewhere in the dark corners and yellowed walls.

For another thing, there were only _seven students_ in this class, not counting Rin! There was a pair of girls sitting together, three guys sitting together in a different desk, and two other guys sitting separately in the back of the room.

The first girl had long purple hair in twin tails, weird dot eyebrows, and pretty red eyes. Her friend was very plain, with mousy brown hair in a bob cut and chocolate-brown eyes.

The three boys were much more interesting. One was small, skinny, and had a shaved head and red framed glasses.

Another was tall and lanky with caramel colored eyes. He would've looked average if his hair wasn't dyed bright pink. Rin gave him points for creativity.

The third guy was tall, tan, and good- looking in a brooding sort of way. His hair was dark brunette, but had a blonde mohawk cutting through the middle. He had at least four piercings in each ear too. Pair that with his serious expression and he was the Punk/Rock reject most girls drooled over. _So cool!_

The last two guys were nothing special. Well, actually, one had strawberry blonde hair, his eyes were closed like Brock from one of the Pokemón cartoon shows, and he had a silly, very worn-looking pink rabbit puppet on one hand. The last guy was wearing all black and playing a video game.

"Wow, this is....kinda sad." She muttered.

"Yes, this is the biggest class we've had in a while." Mephisto said, trotting alongside the girl in dog form. He was a pale purple terrier by the looks of it....

Meanwhile, everyone in the room was checking out the new hottie in the doorway.

She was tall for a girl, thicker than most petit Japanese girls, and prettier than most girls in general–at least according to the girls who jealously muttered all around her at school. The thickness was actually solid muscle from fighting all the time, but no one aside form her twin, father, and the clergyemen at the Monastery knew that. Rin was busty for a fifteen year old and those curves did _not_ belong on a First Year, yet there they were. It was always a problem for Rin when boys saw her and automatically wanted her as a replacement for their left hands.

Her hair was ink-black and fell to the small of her back in thick, shiny waves. Her skin was pale with a healthy pink flush to it and her face had no acne whatsoever(she'd gotten lucky to skip that part of puberty, much to the chagrine of her brother, who'd had to deal with it for a couple years before his skin cleared up). Her eyes were a deep sapphire-blue and long, dark lashes brushed her cheeks when she closed them. Her lips looked soft and pink and very kissable even to the other girls in the room. Overall, she could've been royalty. Jealousy and attraction were the two main emotions displayed upon seeing her.

The girl walked to the first desk at the front of the room and sat down, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but there. She wrinkled her nose in slight disgust and her classmates figured it was because of the smell.

"Alright, everyone in their seats, please." The teacher said as he walked in. Immediately, Rin's gaze snapped up to the front of the classroom and low and behold, her little twin brother stood with a suitcase and a polite smile on his face.

She stewed in resentment while he talked about the subject and Mashōus. Yukio even almost called on her, saw her face, and turned away at one point.

After everyone left the class to go to their dorms, Rin approached her brother. "Hello, sister. Do you you need something?" He asked as calmly as he could.

"Yeah. Answers." She responded shortly.

"I've been training since I was seven. Became an Exorcist two years ago." Yukio told her. Rin shook her head and turned away.

"And you think _I_ put dad in a coma, don't you? Everyone does." She was bitter. Of course she was bitter, everyone kept telling her she'd been the one to almost kill her father. The guy hadn't been a great dad, but she didn't _hate_ him, to say that she tried to murder him was just insulting and stupid!

"Of course I do. You were father's one weakness. How else could he have gotten possessed by Satan?" Yukio's voice hardened.

"And what have you thought of me since you learned what I was?" Rin didn't want to hear the answer, but she had to know for sure.

"You're a _demon,_ Rin. I consider you to be a danger to us all." And then a gun was pulled on her. However, instead of being scared, Rin's immediate reaction was to be super pissed. The tears would come later, after the anger passed and left her tired and sad.

"You're a _moron,_ sister. Why did you come up with this _idiotic_ idea of becoming an exorcist? Revenge for keeping this secret from you? Some twisted atonement towards Father? If so, if you truly have the nerve to feel that way, you should give yourself up to the Vatican. Better yet, you should just _die!_ " Rin's precious little brother said the words so coldly, yet she wasn't shocked. Despite trying to convince herself that Yukio still cared about her even though he hadn't had time for her and acted like she was a nuisance when he _was_ around her since they were little kids, she knew he wasn't the same sweet little kid who was shy and hesitant to tell people that his dream was to be a doctor one day.

This, _this_ was truly heartbreaking though.

"How dare you?!" Rin growled. "I spent my entire life alone because _you_ were off training to kill half of what I am and you have the _guts_ to tell me to _die_ for one mistake that I didn't even know I was making?! Do you think I _asked_ to be Satan's kid?!" She was fuming and Yukio had not been expecting the outburst. He'd probably been expecting her to break down, cry, maybe run away. Because Yukio didn't know Rin.

"That night was the worst night of my life! I _hate_ the fact that _I'm_ the reason Shiro's in a coma! I _hate_ the fact that I still can't prove that I'm anymore more than the Fuck-Up in the family! So why don't you check the facts with that genius intellect you're constantly praised for instead of assuming that just because I have fangs, elf ears, and a tail now that I just default to cliche evil demon, you self-righteous prick?!"

Rin stormed out of the room and left her brother there, gun up and confused on what had just happened. He couldn't tell if those were tears at the corners of her eyes or if it was just the light, but guilt made its way through him as he put his gun in its holster and gathered his teaching supplies, ignoring the tremor in his hands.

§~•~§~•~§

" _Mephisto already told me we'd be living together. I call third floor. You pick a room that's nowhere near mine._ _You may be my guard, but that doesn't mean we have to live in the same room or on the same floor, since you don't seem to care much about my safety with the way you pointed a gun at my head._

 _P.S._ _Have fun making your own damn food_ _, asshole._ "

Rin wished her life could be easier. It had never been _easy,_ but it wasn't this hard about a week ago, either.

On the bright side, these dorms had several bathrooms, so she got a bathroom all to herself. And she'd claimed an entire floor to herself too. Yukio would at least know better than to go against her. Rin had a soft spot for her little brother and would always protect him, but his words earlier in the empty Cram School Classroom hurt more than a bullet ever could.

She hoped he regretted what he'd said and done. Otherwise, her only real family left was in the hospital in a coma. Rin didn't know if she could become an Exorcist without someone to help her. Someone to keep her on the right path.

What would happen if she couldn't stand whatever Organization she was getting into? What if it was a bad place to be associated with and she'd just signed her soul over by joining, even if she didn't have a choice? Would being an Exorcist and working for the Order be worse than just letting those Exorcists and Mephisto kill her right where she'd been next to Shiro's hospital bed a few days ago?

All these things to think about and all this work she never planned on doing. But she shouldn't expect life to be easy for Satan's Daughter, So Rin guessed she'd better start on studying up. The fact that she'd barely passed middle school would hurt her at a prestigious school like this one. 


	2. Tragic Backstory Time

Rin hated what had happened that day. All she'd wanted was a decent job. To have her father finally be proud of her for something. To help provide for the monastery and maybe save up money until she could get her own place so she could stop burdening her father and the priests.

  
But it didn't go down like she wanted. Nothing did, so Rin didn't know why she expected this time to. But that day had dashed all remaining hopes that her life could ever be something she loved living.

As she washed her hair in the shower at the end of the first day of her new life, Rin let the memories flood her mind.

§~•~§~•~§

Dresses were a pain. Ones that zipped up in the back and restricted movement especially. It was one of these kinds of dresses that Shiro gave Rin to wear to an interview for a family restaurant. Of course, he couldn't just let her wear a nice shirt and maybe a loose skirt and some flats. Had to be a dress and heels that looked like it belonged on a secretary of some big company.

The plain black dress was tight and hugged all her curves. If it wasn't for the decent neckline, the short sleeves, and the knee length of it, it could've been something embarrassingly scandalous. The heels thankfully weren't something of stiletto caliber and had a block heel rather than a skinny little stick heel that would undoubtedly trip her up on the uneven ground of the Tokyo Slums.

She contemplated putting her hair up and finally settled on a ponytail. She was trying to get it to look neat, but Rin was rushing and she just couldn't get it how she wanted. She'd barely managed the simple makeup she had on. "You ready to go, kiddo?" Nagatomo stopped by her room and saw her struggle. She gave an awkward smile and he snorted.

"Come here, I'll do it for you. Give me your brush." He said.

Five minutes later and Rin was walking out the front door of the monastery with the flyer folded up and in her hand.

"Ahhh, it's tough being a priest and an Exorcist." Shiro was sighing, seeing a small family off.

"Yeah, it's gotta be pretty tough killing things that aren't there." Rin scoffed.

"Stupid girl. Demons exist in our hearts." Shiro grumbled before turning to her. A look of surprise came across his face before he schooled it into something like approval.

"You look beautiful, Rin." He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he hesitated, only for a moment. "You look like your mother." He murmured softly. Rin barely heard him, but she was glad she did.

"I uh....I thought I'd go to that interview." She muttered, cheeks blooming red. "I was hoping I'd look more respectable like this." She added.

Shiro nodded. "You do. I'm surprised you were able to get your makeup that good. And who did your hair?" Shiro grinned at her knowingly.

"Oh shove off, Old Man! This is about all I can do with makeup! An adult woman's gotta know something about makeup and all that jazz about beauty!" She growled.

The man looked around exaggeratedly. "Adult?! I don't see an adult!" He let out a loud cackle.

"Yeah, _I_ don't see one either!" Rin snapped with a flat look. It took the old priest a minute to realize what she just said and he stopped laughing.

"If you don't like it, then why don't you try showing me just how much you've grown, eh?"

"Damn right I'll show you! You don't have to tell me that! And watch closely, so you don't miss it, Old Fart!" Rin claimed, turning away and doing her best to walk away confidently in the heels.

Walking to the interview was hard enough in heels and a tight dress, but the little black bug things floating in the air made it even harder. Rin could crush them in her hands, but more just kept coming. What were these things?! Was the whole place infested suddenly?!

A familiar voice rang out behind her as she walked by an alley. "Okumura!" Rin turned to see the guys that had been ripping the legs off pigeons the day before. Reiji Shiratori had a few bandages on his face and Rin wanted to roll her eyes. Shouldn't those bandages be a reminder of why he shouldn't keep messing with her? 

On closer inspection, Reiji was different somehow, and not in a good way. He had what looked to be very real horns and a moving tail now. Was he cosplaying something? Another weird thing was that he was covered in those little black bug things floating around. They practically swarmed him. 

"I'm sorry about yesterday, okay? Were you alright?" He admits. "We weren't really thinking straight yesterday, and we wanted to apologize. So, do you got a moment?"

Rin was pretty sure they knew _exactly_ what they were doing yesterday when they'd tried to pin her to the fence with the dead birds. And something about Reiji was making her nervous. Maybe it was just the leering grin.

Rin sighed and turned to them. "I guess...."

Reiji and his buddies led her into a secluded alleyway, which was expected. Rin figured she was strong enough to fight her way out of this if things got messy, although ruining the dress would be a shame when she came home to Shiro's disappointment. 

What Rin _didn't_ expect was to be offered money to keep quiet about the whole pigeon incident. "How much do you want?" Reiji pulled out his wallet. Rin's eyes widened at all the Yen in it. _Holy shit, I knew he was loaded, but it's dangerous to carry around that much in this part of town!_

"I'm starting at True Cross Academy soon," Reiji explained. "It'd be bad if any weird rumors started about me, y'know?" _Are you serious? You'd pay me and let me pick the price so I don't tattletale_ _?_

  
"So, I'll pay you however much money you want. Or, if you'd prefer a different method of payment, I wouldn't say no to that either. I know you're strong as hell and I'd _love_ to have you break my bed frame." His eyes roamed up and down her body, and the girl resisted the urge to slap him. _This moron isn't kidding!_

Rin ignored the perverted offer. "So you're going to the same school as my brother? I can see what you mean. No one would really want to deal with a bunch of assholes who think it's fun to chop the legs off pigeons." She was pushing it, she knew she was. But stooping as low as hurting innocent animals for fun was just disgusting. So damn this dress and these heels if she had to fight this dirtbag.

Reiji just laughed, which served to piss Rin off even more. "That's it sweetheart, it's just a little something to keep your lips sealed. I'll pay you anything you want, so let's just keep this between you and me." Rin hated that sneer and that nickname.

If Rin had lower standards and morals, she would've demanded an obnoxiously high price and continued onto her interview. She'd slip the money into her dad's box where he kept cash he saved up for Yukio's schooling. Rin's little brother wanted to be a doctor, which was expensive learning, but no one at that Monastery would shoot down his dreams. If Yukio wanted to be a Doctor, he'd be a Doctor.

"I don't need your money. I swear I won't say anything," Rin told him, turning to leave the alleyway. 

"Woah, woah, woah what's with that, sweetheart? You're trying to act all modest and strut away like a model in those pretty little heels? What's the getup for anyway? Seeing you this pretty is almost scary." Reiji demanded. 

  
"You can't really hide it, you guys are so poor that you can't even afford a proper education, aren't you?" _Why are you trying to fight me? We already established that you'll lose if you fight me! Everybody loses against Demon Okumura._

"I mean, even your wimpy brother Yukio had to work his butt off to get himself a scholarship to True Cross, didn't he?" Rin stopped dead. _Don't punch the wannabe thug, don't punch the wannabe thug!_ There were lines you just didn't cross, and this was one of them. "You guys are, like, in debt by now. Why don't you just put this toward your fees, yeah?" He held his money out again, but this time, Rin was done playing nice when she declined it.

She really didn't mean to, but people insulting her brother and their living situation really pissed Rin off, so her fist met Reiji's face for the second time in two days.

  
"You asshole...." She growled. "You can say whatever you want about me, but don't you _dare_ go bad-mouthing my little brother or our living situation!" People could call her Demon, monster, delinquent, whatever, it wouldn't matter to her whatsoever. But the _instant_ they said anything derogatory about Yukio was when she lost her cool. Rin had spent most of her life defending him from bullies like Reiji.

"Hahaha, man that hurt." He admitted, completely unfazed and getting up from where he'd fallen on the ground. Rin had half a mind to roundhouse kick him, but this damn dress prevented that.

"Don't get cocky, whore!" Reiji snarled.

"Get her!" He looked to his cronies. Rin was suddenly face down on the ground, pinned down by three teenage boys that were all bigger than her. She'd normally overpower them without a second thought, but they gripped her in places their hands weren't supposed to go. One guy yanked her up to her knees and had an arm between her breasts, holding onto her shoulder. The other two guys held her calves down, one's hand was too high up on her thigh. 

  
Rin felt disgusting. As soon as she got out of this, she'd take like five showers back at the Monastery. Rin was starting to regret leaving her home today.

"Yeah, hold her just like that! Be careful, though-she's pretty, but she's a real monster!" Reiji ordered them. He bent down to pick up a piece of paper off the ground, and Rin realized it was the one that Rin had been holding for the job interview.

"Job interview?" The teen scoffed. "Is that what this getup is for? I knew there had to be some special reason. I never really pegged you as a girl who liked to get all dolled up for fun."

He wasn't wrong. The church was poor so they couldn't afford enough clothing for both Rin and Yukio separately. Rin just shared the closet with her brother and wore his shirts, sweaters, and jackets. Either that or she could pick out of the boxes and trash bags of old clothes donated to the monastery. Pretty much everything Rin owned had been donated.

Reiji crouched down next to her to look her in the eyes has he caressed her face almost sweetly. "You really are a miserable lil' thing, aren't ya? Even the girl everyone called a demon back in middle school....once we graduate, she's just another job-hunter. When it comes down to it, you're just the scum of society, aren't ya? All the way at the bottom of the food chain." He snickered.

"You think I don't know that?! Trust me I know better than everybody else just how trashy in my life is turning out to be, I don't need a reminder." Rin blew a lock of bangs out of her face irritatedly.

Without her noticing, Reiji had pulled a knife.

"You know, that pretty hair of yours is _awfully_ long. If you're looking for a job, you'll want a better haircut, won't you? Here, I'll help you out!" Reiji stopped to let out an evil villain-esque cackle. Rin was wondering if he was high or something.

"Uhh, Boss? Are you sure about this? That's going pretty far. This is a real crime!" One of the lackeys informed their leader nervously.

"Shut up!" Reiji shouted, punching the guy in the face right over Rin's head. The guy collapsed, and if she wasn't experiencing his full weight before, she really was now, with his hand falling directly onto one of her breasts. He was really heavy and Rin absolutely _hated_ how he was touching her right now.

Reiji grasped the base of Rin's ponytail, his cold fingers just barely touching her neck. She held back a shudder of disgust.

"I think I'll start with cutting this thing off. It's so pretty, and I want it as proof for bragging rights to tell everyone that'll listen that I beat Demon Okumura. And, afterward, I'll let you show your gratitude to me for giving you such a nice haircut." Reiji all but purred in her ear. 

Rin was equal parts scared out of her mind and so pissed she couldn't think. Out of all the days for this to happen to her, why on the day she was trying to get her life together?! The guys were holding onto her very tightly now and if Rin tried to overpower them and throw them off of her, they'd likely clutch onto her in reflex and hurt her pretty badly. And then there was the fact that Reiji had a _fucking knife_ so close to her head that if she moved just a little bit to the left, she'd cut her head open on it.

There was nothing she could do to stop this. He'd saw all her hair off, probably leave some cuts on her body, and then probably rape her and leave her broken in this alleyway. 

Rin wanted to sob. She wanted to call for her Dad, but she was a big girl now. She'd been stupid enough to get herself into this situation. How could she show Shiro that she was an adult if she couldn't get herself out of it too? As the knife drew closer to her, Rin gave in and went for a last ditch effort to call someone, anyone, to help her out of this. Her pride was _not_ worth a teen pregnancy.

"NO! STOP!" Rin couldn't even thrash. The blade glinted close to her eye and she let out a wordless shriek as loud as she could. Reiji winced and went to cover his ears before swiping the knife at her and cutting her cheek open. 

At the same time, bright, brilliant blue burst from Rin. It blew all the guys off of her and forced Reiji away and into the alleyway wall. Rin blinked in surprise, looking down at herself. She was.... glowing? No, she was _on fire?!_ She looked at her dress in a panic and took a second to realize that she wasn't actually burning. The fire just danced on her skin. A new warmth spread across her skin and the feeling didn't feel foreign like she would've expected it to. It felt like Home. Like Shiro's incredibly rare hugs and Yukio doing her hair to calm down after panic attacks when they were and hearing all the good things the priests said about her cooking at dinner. 

"Heh, looks like I was right about you!" Reiji said excitedly, getting up from the ground. His irises and pupils were warped and his horns and tail were definitely real and not some kind of cosplay props. Long, needle-sharp black claws extended from his fingers.

"Those blue flames are the real thing, the flames of Father! Oh, I've been waiting so long for this day to arrive, you have no clue! I have been searching so long for you, my Young Princess! Now, let us set forth to Gehenna! Satan awaits us!"

"Satan?" Rin breathed in confusion, dazed from everything that had just happened. And Princess? Last she checked, Rin wasn't royalty. Rin was the _opposite_ of royalty. And what the hell had happened to Reiji? Was he a demon all along and stalking her?! Oh god, she'd known Reiji since they were kids!

Before she could work herself into a full-blown panic, she head a familiar voice. " _Evil dwells within this heart. O Lord, let each be judged according to his deeds._ " Old Man! He was here! Had he heard her scream and come to save her? Why would he have been able to hear her all the way from the monastery? Had he been following her? No! That couldn't be right, because he would've stopped her from even walking into the alleyway!

Or would he have? Did he let her walk into this alley to see if she could handle herself like an adult? A sour, uncomfortable feeling twisted in her gut at the thought. 

No! Shiro would _never_ do that to his little girl. He loved Rin, no matter how much of a failure she was and no matter how much time he spent with Yukio rather than her. 

"Demon, perish where you stand!" An odd black substance flooded out of Reiji's mouth and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Shiro turned to his adopted daughter still on the ground.

"Have you calmed down?" He asked in a forceful tone she'd never heard him use, not even on her when she'd gotten in the worst trouble before as a kid. 

It took Rin a second to register what he'd said before going to say something and only getting out a choked sob instead. Shiro looked surprised for a moment and Rin looked away in shame, hot tears rolling down her face. Her throat closed up some and her nose began running as she sobbed on the dirty ground in her pretty dress and heels, ponytail a tangled mess now and makeup probably smeared. She hadn't been able to handle herself. She almost got assaulted in the worst way possible for a woman. She might have been left with that disgusting bastard's child and no life to live once the kid was born. And she would've kept that baby because it wouldn't have been the kid's fault. Rin almost turned out like so many other unfortunate girls did.

"I'm sorry." She choked out. Shiro sighed. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to her feet.

"Rin, I know what just happened was terrible and I barely made it here in time. I'm sorry. But we have to go quickly." He told her gently.

Rin was too shaken up to say anything and instead took off her heels so she could run with her father across the city. 

"It seems like your power can no longer be suppressed entirely by Kurikara...." Shiro muttered to himself as they ran.

"Wh-What happened to Shiratori back there? Was that really him?" Rin wondered

"No, that was a demon! That boy was possessed. I exorcised the demon, but if that boy doesn't change his ways, he'll be possessed again." Shiro answered back, murmuring a quick chant to dispel creepy creatures formed by a ton of the tiny black bug things that Rin kept swatting away from her earlier. They'd swarmed Reiji too.

"God damnit, so demons actually exist and I've just been an asshole about it this whole time?!" Rin groaned. 

"You haven't been the most believing, Rin, but you're not an asshole! I daresay you can see them now. The demons, I mean." Shiro amended. Rin looked around at the tiny things floating in the air around them.

"So these are demons too?" She guessed.

"Indeed. This world, you see, consists of two dimensions joined as one, like a mirror. The first is the material world that we live in, Assiah. The other is the mirror world of demons, Gehenna. Usually, travel between the two, along with any kind of contact between the two worlds, is impossible." Shiro began.

  
"However, Demons can pass over into this world by possessing anything that exists within it. These little ones, for instance," He caught one of the tiny black things flying around in his hand, "Are known as coaltars; they are possessing particles of dust. They gather around darkness and dampness, and around humans with a dark nature. But no matter. You will come to understand." He crushed the coaltar in his hand.

"Thanks to this incident, they will have learned of your awakening. All sorts of people will come after you now for various reasons. You must be hidden before they find you!" He told her urgently, like he was willing her to understand everything he was saying. But Rin didn't. There were too many pieces of this new puzzle missing for her to really understand exactly what was going on.

"Hide? Awakening? What on God's Green Earth are you on about, Old Man?! You're acting like I'm not a human! _What aren't you telling me?!_ " Rin demanded urgently, afraid of the answer but desperate to know.

Shiro's tone was solemn when he finally answered. "Rin, you are the daughter of a demon. Born of a human impregnated by a demon, and not just any demon. You....are the daughter of Satan himself."

  
The words sank in, and Rin's heart went cold as her face fell. All these years of being called a demon and trying to prove that she wasn't. All these years Shiro had told her she was a normal human girl who deserved friends and a happy life like everyone else. And yet that same man was now telling her she was the daughter of the most evil demon to ever exist.

He'd lied. He'd lied to her until he wasn't able to anymore. Rin wished she could just drop to the ground and lay there until the Earth swallowed her up and erased her pitiful existence. Why did everything have to end up as lies and pain for her?!

They made it back to the monastery and then to Rin's room and Shiro was packing a bag. Rin's bare feet hurt and probably had cuts on the bottoms of them from running across the city with no shoes. She'd ripped the dress up the side so she could run a while ago after tripping several times and attaining more scrapes on her hands and knees.

"At any rate," Shiro was talking to her again and she snapped to attention. "You must leave this monastery."

"Wha- _Leave?!_ " Rin found herself wrapped in his arms. Rin could feel the worry rolling out of him. Worry for her. The hurt inside her softened some. Shiro wasn't disowning her. He was trying to protect her.

"I love you, Rin. Whatever happens, never forget that." He whispered in her ear. "This is for the best, I promise you." The fact that he was so serious about this terrified Rin. She felt more tears prick at her eyes and tried to blink them back.

"I love you too, Dad." She choked out. "But why can't I stay here with you?" She pulled back. Shiro planted a kiss on her head and pulled a key out of a pocket in his cassock.

"This is the Kamikakushi Key, or the Key of Vanishment. It can hide anything in any location." He explained as he led her downstairs and unlocked a drawer in a dresser. Shiro pulled the drawer open, revealing a sheathed sword inside. "This is the demon-slaying sword, Kurikara, also known as the Koma Sword." _So that's what he was talking about earlier with the seal...._

"Your powers have been transferred into this sword, and sealed by the scabbard." He handed her the sword. "Never draw it, Rin! If you draw it, you will return to your demon form. But never let it leave your side, either. When you must, use the key to hide it." Shiro insisted. Without waiting for a response from the girl, he shoved both the Key and the Sword into her arms. The next thing he gave her was a cell phone.

"Once you leave the monastery, I want you to use this. There is only one number stored in its memory. It is the number of a friend of mine. I doubt you will be able to live as you have done until this day, but my friend will at least grant you protection. Now go!" He shoved the bag he packed minutes earlier into her arms. 

Up until then, she'd felt almost numb. 

Now, she fully came back to her senses. This was her reality. Rin was the daughter of Satan. She had to leave the Monastery, where she'd lived her whole life, and go live with someone she didn't even know or trust but who Shiro said would protect her. Rin's demonic powers were stored in the Katana she held, and if she were to ever unsheathed it, Rin would no longer be able to pose as human.

It was all overwhelming and several emotions rushed through her-fear, confusion, sadness-but the one that overtook all of those was Anger. Betrayal. Rin knew she'd been hard to raise. She knew she was the screw up. Was Shiro finally getting his way out through this incident and dumping her onto someone else to be their problem?

She was so angry, angry at Shiro Fujimoto, the man who told her she was his normal human daughter all these years, neglected her in favor of her better half, and now was kicking her to the curb like she was nothing to him, the instant she became dangerous/in danger, even though he just said he loved her. 

" _Screw this!_ " Rin cried, wanting to throw down all the stuff in her arms. 

"What in the absolute _hell_ is going on all of a sudden?! Demons?! Satan?! You're telling me they actually exist? This has gotta be some kind of sick joke!" 

She faltered for a moment. "Tell me this is a joke! I don't want this! And what about Yukio?! Is he like me?! Is he a demon too?!" She demanded, trying her hardest not to let tears spill down her face again. 

"The two of you are fraternal twins. He was weak in the womb, and the power rejected him. It passed to you alone." Shiro was strangely calm about this, but under that mask was worry that he was restraining. For her sake or for his own? 

Rin heard a loud crash close by and barely registered the semi-truck Reiji had just crashed I to her childhood home. She also ignored the rot demons spilling into the sanctuary as the clergymen held them off.

"But....that's....I don't....why didn't you _tell_ me?!" At least she knew that Yukio was actually her brother, but why keep the knowledge of her powers from her?! Why not just _tell_ her that she was the daughter of Satan and train her to control whatever powers she had?!

"I wanted to raise you as an ordinary human. So long as you remained to be human, that is." He was still annoyingly calm. Rin wanted to slap him for it.

"Drop the act, Old Man! What's scaring you?!" She yelled in frustration. Blue fire flared up around her again. Her tears evaporated away. This was the biggest news of her entire life, and he was acting like he was telling her what he had for dinner last night!

"And what about me getting a job?! You say I need one, but the moment I stop being 'human' or whatever, you ship me off to god-knows-where?! Don't _I_ get a say in all this?! This is _my_ life, isn't it?!" Rin was throwing a fit like a five-year-old, but she didn't care. She hurt. She hurt a lot. Could she only be Shiro's daughter as a human? Could she only get that occasional attention and care if she was human? Once she was no longer human, she was the daughter of Satan that had to go into hiding for the rest of her already-miserable life? She couldn't even have the little she'd had as a human?

"That's not it! This is for your protection!" He was no longer calm about it. But Rin wasn't done.

"You're getting rid of me! Don't give me that crap! After all, I'm just some random kid who's caused nothing but trouble for you my whole life! I'm not like Yukio, I cause nothing but problems for you, I've been a burden on you my entire life! You just don't want to tell me to my face now that you're finally able to get rid of me! How could you tell me you loved me _five fucking minutes ago_ when you're pushing me out the door to go to whoever the hell and never be seen again?! Why can't I just be _your_ daughter? Don't act like my father when you have no intention of actually being one!" Tears were evaporating because of the flames, but if Shiro couldn't tell she was crying, the crack in her voice during the last sentence sure gave her away. She wasn't even angry anymore, she was just sad and hurt.

Suddenly, Rin felt her father's open palm striking her cheek. Her head jerked to the side and she stayed like that in surprise, hair hiding her wide eyes.

"We don't have any time to argue! Do as you're told!" Father Fujimoto ordered firmly. 

"....Fine." Rin hoisted the bag onto her back and slung the word over a shoulder, desperately trying to hold back the loud sob that wanted to break free. Had he even listened to her when she was yelling at him? Had he cared? She didn't know, but she did know that he'd never hit her before, despite how many times he seemed to want to when she was a child and misbehaving.

She followed the man out into the sanctuary, heading for the door, when  
something seemed to cripple Shiro. He cried out and collapsed to his knees, and despite how much he'd just hurt her, Rin was by his side in an instant. "Damn." He breathed in dread. "To think that I could...."

"What's wrong, what's happening?" Rin asked him. He looked like he was having some sort of heart attack. Oh, god, had Rin finally done it?! Had she stressed him out so much that he was finally going into cardiac arrest?! Rin would never forgive herself if Shiro died because of her!

Shiro was apparently still coherent.  
"Go!" He told her. "Quickly, get away from me!"

  
"How about _no!_ " Rin stayed right where she was at her father's side. "What's going on? Get a hold of yourself, Old Man, I'm not gonna just leave you here, you old bastard!" Rin was beyond feeling anything but constant confusion at this point. Her mind was too filled with everything that was happening for her to fully process what she should be feeling right now. She tried to calm her adoptive father down, but then he looked at her.

In a second, she threw herself away from him, hugging the wall and staying far away from him. The same thing seemed to be happening to him that had happened to Reiji Shiratori earlier. 

"Daughter....of mine...." The thing inside Shiro's body greeted her through her adoptive father's mouth. "How I have waited for this moment...." He let out a maniacal, unhinged laugh that sounded wrong coming from Shiro's vocal chords. 

"Hey there, Sweetie! Doing good? That's right, the man himself has come all this way just to see his beautiful little girl! So look happy about it!" The Demon sang cheerfully. Rin knew who it was by now.

"Get the fuck outta my dad, you fuckfaced Bitch!" She had no idea what kind of insult that one was, but she was spiraling, give her a break.

  
"The name's Satan." The demon said, ignoring her insult completely. "God of Demons, and your one and only Daddy. You can call me 'Papa' if you want!" He threw his head back and let loose another crazy cackle. The sound grated against Rin's eardrums.

"Now," Satan continued, "I'd love to stick around and savor this touching reunion, but I'm afraid this guy's body won't last much longer." The God of Demons proceeded to say something in a language Rin somehow understood, brutally ripped off a couple of Shiro's fingers, and a black, bubbling _thing_ materialized on the floor from his spilled blood. "I'm the only demon there is with the power to create this, you know! Although, maybe when you're older and stronger, you'll be able to open one too!" Satan claimed proudly. "The Gehenna Gate! Now then, let's go home, shall we? Gehenna is waiting!"

With nothing else to do, Rin leveled him with a flat stare. She was too paralyzed with fear to run, but she could still serve stone cold looks to Satan on a ruined Tuesday night.

The Demon stared back at her, confused. "You know, you look just like your mother right now, kiddo." He said in an almost normal voice. "Almost scary, but I killed your mother for a reason! Maybe we can make new memories with that same pretty face!" Satan went back to cackling, trudging towards Rin and grabbing her. He pulled her to him by her tangled hair and she screamed-a high-pitched sound that made even the God of Gehenna cringe, apparently-before he pulled her up and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Rin thrashed against him and he grunted, trying to hold her still. She screamed right in his ear and thrashed as hard as she could before Satan finally dropped her on the floor. That would leave bruises on her shoulder....

Just as Satan went back to grab her again, he doubled over. "No! That is _my_ little girl! You stay away from her!" Shiro growled, grasping the needle-like pin hanging around his neck and stabbing it into his own chest. Rin shrieked, horrified at the sight, as Satan cursed the priest and they fell into the Gehenna Gate.

Rin crawled to them. Satan seemed to have left Shiro's body, though blood ran from every orfice and he was deathly pale, still with the pin in his chest. Rin grabbed at him, but couldn't tug him free with all her strength. She desperately looked around for anyone or anything that could help her until her eyes landed on the red sleeve of Kurikara.

Shiro had said to never draw it. But Rin had never listened to him before and this was life or death. Shiro night still be alive, just barely.

It was worth it. He'd hurt her minutes ago, but he'd also just stabbed himself for her, so he was redeemed in her mind. Rin pulled the sword and bright, brilliant blue exploded from her and the blade. Her body changed, but she didn't take any time to notice, pulling the blade and slicing clean though the portal, keeping her hold on Shiro.

Her bullshit plan somehow worked and Rin was left with a ruined monastery and a dying Shiro Fujimoto in her arms. She felt for a pulse like Yukio had taught her and let out a sob of relief. He was still alive, but not for long.

"I'm sorry, Daddy." She whimpered, hugging him to her.

Rin picked Shiro and the sword up and ran outside. It seemed one of the priests had called some emergency service at some point during the night and an ambulance was just pulling up. They asked Rin several questions on his condition and she didn't know what to say until one of them noted the "signs of possession" and finally told them everything she could. The doctors quickly dismissed her after, driving away in the ambulance with her father in the back, clinging onto life.

Days later found her standing next to her father's hospital bed as he slept peacefully in his medically-induced coma. They put him in this coma to give his body time to heal because he was getting older and his body couldn't heal as well on its own as it used to be able to. Rin didn't know if she looked forward to or dreaded the day that he could be woken up.

She looked down at the phone in her hand-the phone Shiro had given her. The only thing left to do for her was to call the number in it's memory and see if this friend of her father's could really help her. With Shiro in a coma, Rin and Yukio didn't have a guardian. They were orphans.

As the phone rang in her now-pointed ear, there was another ringtone somewhere else nearby. She looked up to find several people surrounding her father's hospital bed, silently but warily watching her. They weren't threatening her yet, so she remained calm as the man on the other end strutted forward. 

Dear God, if Rin had ever seen an unforgivable sin, it was whatever the hell this man was wearing. He looked like a creepy gay clown man. She couldn't really tell how old he was, just an age range of maybe he was in his late thirties/early forties? He was one of those people who just looked ageless. His hair(what wasn't covered by his ambitiously tall white hat)framed his face and was a deep purple, interestingly enough. He had a short goatee that matched his hair. 

His outfit consisted of a white suit jacket, a pink and white polka-dotted cravat, purple gloves, white poofy shorts, pink and purple striped leggings, and heeled pink boots. He looked like a walking acid trip.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Rin Okumura." The clown snapped his phone shut and kept talking as if the others weren't there. "My name is Mephisto Pheles." He introduced himself with a bow, looking up at her with a wide grin and poison-green eyes. Rin only raised a brow and waited for him to continue. The man cleared his throat. "Tough crowd." He muttered.

"I am a friend of Shiro Fujimoto. You have my sympathies for what you went through. I have no doubt that he shall awaken soon, however." _Wow, thanks for the information from the guy without the Doctorate._

Rin surveyed the people in uniform surrounding her carefully before asking, "Are you all Exorcists?"

Mephisto grinned wider. So that was a yes. "We are known as the True Cross Order." Mephisto answered simply.

"Nice, now could you not assume I know what's going on and explain?" Rin requested impatiently.

"Ah, he did tell me you had quite the temper." The clown chuckled. 

"Dad said you'd offer me protection." Rin moved on.

"Ah." Mephisto sighed, looking somewhat apologetic. "I'm afraid that as an Honorary Knight, I have certain responsibilities, Dear. I cannot confuse personal and public interest." He apologized.

Rin gave a bitter smile. "Hm. Figures." 

"You see, you are the daughter of Satan, therefore you must be-sorry, what was that?" The man looked bamboozled. He'd obviously prepared a whole speech just in case she argued with him over the subject. 

  
"I'm not stupid enough to think things will start going right for me, especially now that my situation is even worse." She shook her head.

"Wow. You are much more of a realist than I thought you'd be. Has it really been that bad of a run these past years? Who hurt you, Dear?" The man actually sounded mildly concerned.

"Shit happens. I drew the short straw. Nothing else to it." She shrugged.

"Ah. Well then, I shall carry on just to warn you. You have two options remaining to you: let yourself be killed by us, or kill us and flee. Oh, I suppose you have the third option of suicide as well. Now then, which do you prefer?" 

_None of them. I would prefer none of them._

"Fuck all of those choices, let me join you!" Rin demanded. "If I'm on your side, I won't be a threat to humanity. I don't care what you people say. I'm not Satan's daughter! I have no relation to that Monster! My only father is Shiro!" She looked Mephisto dead in the eyes, leaving no room for argument. 

Mephisto wanted to laugh. He wanted to laugh _so hard._ But that look on the girl's face told him that it would be taken as a serious offence and possibly earn him a foot to the crotch.

A look of amusement flashed in Mephisto's eyes. "And what would you hope to achieve by becoming an Exorcist, Young Lady?" He wondered. 

"I'm gonna beat the shit out of Satan!" She snarled, tail lashing behind her in response to her emotions. That was an ironclad promise.

"Hmm, Satan's daughter, an exorcist." He contemplated the concept. "I like it! Very well then! Rin Okumura will start at True Cross Academy and the Exorcist Cram School in four days time to start her journey to becoming an exorcist strong enough to defeat Satan!" He declared joyfully.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin's life was changed forever that day and now, as she turned out the lamp in her very empty and very lonely room, she hoped it wasn't a mistake to become an Exorcist to avenge Shiro, even if he wasn't dead.


	3. New Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Pan!Fem!Rin and I think it's great. I myself am pan and Gay Panic™ was very common for me to experience at school before quarantine swooped in to save me from it. Rin meets a certain blonde girl and makes a fast friend.

Watching a cute blonde girl garden in a pretty pink kimono was totally worth tagging along with Yukio on his supply run. Sure, Rin had triggered the defence charm on the gate and Shiemi had yelled at her, thinking she was trying to hurt her, but Rin didn't mind that part as long as she got to keep watching Shiemi Moriyama take care of her gorgeous plants.

Rin minded even less having to support the girl and practically carry her to water any plant higher than knee-height. Shiemi was heavier than she'd thought, but still a featherweight to Rin.

"Sister, I told you not to move!" Yukio griped at her when he walked into the garden with a woman that Rin could only assume was Shiemi's mother or at least aunt. Rin pointedly ignored him and set Shiemi on her feet, still holding her up.

"Yuki-chan!" The blonde cried. Rin snorted out a short laugh as Yukio's face steadily reddened.

"Ah, Hello Shiemi-san." He greeted her stiffly.

"Hey, how do you know my little brother?" Rin asked her.

"L-little?! You're older than Yuki-chan?!" Shiemi's eyes had stars in them.

"In name only." Yukio sighed. Rin's gaze snapped to him in a glare that could probably wither flowers. Yukio had yet to apologize for what he'd done in the classroom a week ago and he wasn't making his case any better.

Shiemi seemed to have noticed the tension and before she could say anything, her mother ordered her to "show the nice man her legs." One, that sounded super messed up. Two, Yukio was only fifteen, there were no _man_ here to look at Shiemi's legs.

Shiemi and her mother ended up arguing over the garden and Shiemi passed out in Rin's arms. Rin shifted her shoulder so Shiemi's head laid comfortably against it as Shiemi's mother directed them to a storehouse. Rin laid her down and pulled the blankets over her with a softness that surprised Yukio.

Had she always done that with him when he fell asleep at his desk back at the monastery? He'd seen her do it to Shiro plenty of times in the same situation.

Rin stayed to monitor Shiemi while Yukio and her mother spoke.

§~•~§~•~§

He hadn't meant to, but Yukio interrupted their shojou manga-esque moment to tell Shiemi that she needed to remember what plant she talked to that had been possessed. Rin looked a little miffed, but still didn't talk to him. She was holding out a lot longer than he thought she could on the silent treatment.

Go figure the thing that got Rin to talk to him again was him shooting Shiemi and the demon. Rin sliced it and lunged to catch Shiemi in time. She was unconscious, but unharmed. Rin turned a glare on her twin.

"Are you nuts?!" She hissed. "No, which is why she's still alive. Do you think I'd really shoot her?" That was extremely offensive.

Rin looked at him like he was a moron and just turned away from him as Shiemi woke up and he realized that _Oh yeah, he'd pulled his gun on her in a classroom on the first day of school a week ago._

Rin helped Shiemi stand and the blonde was so happy that she hugged Rin tightly, cheeks flushed a happy pink. Rin smirked smugly at her twin over the girl's shoulder. Yukio felt jealousy stab through him. But he couldn't tell who it was for–Rin, for getting Shiemi's bright smile and thanks or Shiemi for getting Rin's perfect hugs that felt as close to a mother as he'd ever gotten. He'd never tell his sister that, of course.

He sighed and they went home.

§~•~§~•~§

They had a new classmate the next day in Cram School. Shiemi wore her kimono instead of school uniform, so Rin guessed that she hadn't enrolled in regular school. Lucky.

Shiemi introduced herself and then went to sit-right next to Rin. There was pretty much a whole classroom fill of seats and the pretty blonde sat right next to Rin.

Rin noticed the girl trembling like a leaf. "Uh....are you okay?" She wondered.

"Me? Oh, yes! I've never been better! I'm just nervous!" Shiemi answered. Rin slowly reached out and grasped Shiemi's hand with hers.

"It's okay. You'll get used to it. But if you wanna sit next to me, we can both move back farther where we're not so close to the front if you want?" Rin offered her reassurance.

"Oh, Rin-chan. You're so sweet! No, it's fine, really. I'm just glad you're here with me." Shiemi turned that angelic smile on her and Rin's face heated. She wasn't used to people appreciating her efforts.

"I also wanted to see Yuki-chan as a teacher." Shiemi added. Rin's face fell and she rolled her eyes. Of course. She was here for Yukio. Forever Mr. Steal Your Girl, Rin couldn't ever really find anyone to even be just her friend while Yukio was always swarmed by girls. It was unfair. Rin knew people thought she was pretty, but they never tried to ask her out.

Rin moped the rest of the class, which didn't go unnoticed by Yukio, Shima, or Suguro. Yukio because he was right in front of her all class, Shima because he was always staring at her, and Suguro because he was wondering why she'd not fallen asleep yet. It was literally the beginning of the year and Rin already had the habit of sleeping through classes and he couldn't stand it. The fact that she was smokin hot, but slept through the classes pissed him off more. Was it really that hard to be pretty _and_ smart? How much more time did she spend doing her hair than studying? Because there was no way her hair looked that perfect without her doing _something_ to it.

He ignored the fact that hearing her talk to the new blonde girl was the first time he'd heard her talk and her voice was musical and very clear–clear enough for him to hear everything she said unless she talked very quietly. It wasn't high-pitched, but it wasn't deep either. Rin's voice was a pleasant middle tone.

She'd looked annoyed and disappointed for the rest of the class after the new girl murmured something to her. The dark-haired girl had glanced up at the teacher and then moped the whole rest of class. He almost wanted to snicker.

Being disappointed was what you deserved if you slept through every class.


	4. Be More Chill

Rin was, unfortunately, not the best student and never had been. She might've been, if she'd actually gone to middle school properly, but she hadn't. Rin had skipped as many days as she could until they threatened to expel her and she somehow still passed. Rin learned better through practical means rather than bookwork. It took hours with ten minute breaks in between and music for background sound to keep her concentrated. But the monastery had been nothing short of demolished and was being rebuilt. But Rin had lost most of her personal items, including the old Ipod with all her music. 

So her method didn't work that well without her stuff. Yukio was still too busy for her. She didn't have her music, or her soft fluffy blanket and favorite pillow, or enough money to buy snacks for when she needed something to munch on while taking notes at home. And she knew Mephisto had plenty of money to get her everything she needed. 

  
But of course, her new guardian was a cheap bastard. He didn't really care about her like Shiro did. Money was always tough growing up. Rin was the only girl in the monastery and the guys thought it would be hard to care for her.

But Rin had been an easy kid in the fact that she didn't mind doing whatever boys did. She shared clothes with Yukio, she played with his toy cars and robots, she played Yukio's pretend superhero games instead of playing Princess even though there were times when she wished someone would pretend-save her from a dragon. She would've kept her hair short so it was manageable, but the guys all said she could keep it as long as she wanted and instead learned how to put her hair up better than even _she_ could. Rin figured they felt bad for robbing her of a proper childhood for a little girl.

When she got older, Shiro told her that he'd kept a box for her that had money he'd saved up in it since he knew that women liked a lot of things that cost money. He asked her what she wanted to do with the money and she'd thought about it for a while before answering. Because she could only successfully study a certain way, she asked to use the money for snacks. In turn, Rin would just keep wearing Yukio's clothes or clothes donated to the church. She traded a decent wardrobe for being able to pass middle school. She didn't regret it, but she still mourned the loss of nicer clothes.

Now, Rin had about three outfits, her school uniforms(one with a short sleeve shirt, one with a long sleeve shirt for cold months), and the pathetic excuse for blankets and pillows Mephisto provided her and Yukio with. She basically had nothing.

Which brought her to now, where she was almost asleep on her desk when she heard someone mutter behind her.

"What's with that girl? Why is she even here?" Ryuji Suguro grumbled. Yeah, Rin had barely known the guy for a week and a half and he was turning out to be a Grade-A asshole.

Middle school Rin would have called the guy out for a fight behind the school and then beat the hell out of him, but Highschool Rin wasn't a petty little girl anymore and ignored him.

When Yukio's class rolled around, and he passed back the results of a test they'd taken, Rin had a 40% and a disappointed little brother/teacher. She groaned and let her head drop into her arms. Rin really wished she could have everything she needed to be able to study properly and pass classes. Because right now she'd probably get expelled for failing every class in both the regular school and cram school and her life would be over because she'd be kicked from True Cross Academy and from safety. Satan would likely come for her and she wouldn't allow him to have her so she'd probably end up committing suicide. Shiemi patted her back in sympathy, not knowing just how screwed Rin was, but trying to cheer her up nonetheless.

When Suguro, who Rin had taken to calling Rooster just to piss him off, walked by to collect his test, he scoffed at her. 

"40%? I couldn't get a score that bad if I _tried._ " He snorted, a smug grin tilting his lips up. "Try studying instead of prettying yourself up for your boyfriend, flirting with the teacher, and falling asleep in class."

"Sorry, what? I couldn't hear you past the shit coming out of your mouth. How much ass have you kissed to be Teacher's pet in Advanced classes?" Rin snapped back so fast everyone almost got whiplash from the immediate comeback. "You know, you talk a lot of shit considering the fact that you can't pay attention in class because you're too busy watching me for some reason. How about you mind your own damn business, Rooster?" 

Damn, Rin needed to chill. That was a little much. Despite his massive ego and assholery, Suguro hadn't attacked her that severely. It just frustrated her that she knew how she could improve but didn't have the supplies to. And here was this guy easily passing everything without needing to work nearly as hard as she did. It made her want to punch him in his stupid good-looking face.

_Flirting with teachers? Where does that even come from?! I'm usually trying to_ _**avoid** _ _teachers! And what was that about a boyfriend?!_

And why the hell did Rin hear some disappointment in his voice? He barely knew her, what was there to be disappointed about? She then realized that he kind of just called her pretty and connected the dots. Oh. Classic case of "Hot girl in class is actually a loser." She should've guessed.

"I mean, seriously! How much time do you spend on your hair and makeup each morning to look that perfect?! Thirty minutes? An hour?" Rin couldn't tell if she was being insulted or complimented. She raised an eyebrow and waited for him to be done before saying anything. 

"First of all," She began, "I don't wear makeup, you sexist bitch, and the only thing I do to my hair is brush it. You're not wrong about it taking a while though–this hair is thicker than _your mom._ Not all of us can just roll out of bed with perfect hair like yours." She said icily. Insulting people's mothers was a good way to get to them. Which was why no one could get to Rin like that–she never had a mom! And if anyone tried to say anything about her mother, she'd just say her mom was dead and the whole room would go into an awkward silence before she just walked away and ignore the emptiness of being reminded that she didn't have a mother.

Suguro blinked several times and his mouth dropped open a little. 

  
"And second of all, I'm usually trying to _avoid_ teachers, so whatever the hell you think you know about me, you can just chuck that crap out the window." She finished, flipping her hair back behind her shoulders.

"Mr. Suguro, would you like to collect your test or am I throwing it away?" Yukio sighed, almost seeming bored.

  
Rin watched the teen as he sputtered before taking his test from the teacher. As he passed by her desk again, he seemed to have regained his composure, flashing a smug grin and flipping his test around so she could see the score. 98 percent, huh?

"Seriously?! A guy with an attitude like yours getting a 98 percent just doesn't happen!" Rin growled. Of course. He's got looks, brawn, _and_ brains. Rin only had two of those, but the ones she had wouldn't help her at all through school. Life was unfair.

"What was that?!" Suguro fumed. "You heard me, Rooster!" Rin responded sourly. 

  
"Do you wanna know why I come to these classes? To do some serious studying and earn the right to call myself an exorcist! It's not just me, either: everyone here is serious about becoming an exorcist! And ditsy chicks with only enough braincells to roast everyone but herself should just get out of our sight!" Suguro growled.

Ouch. Rin roasted people in defence, not to be mean. All she wanted was for people to leave her alone so they wouldn't hurt her. Don't mess with the socially awkward girl who used to fight in the streets. She'll either beat the crap outta you or tear you down so you'll leave her alone. Though these guys didn't know that. She could've planted her fist in Suguro's gut the second day of school when she'd caught him glaring, but she didn't want to fight anymore. 

"What gives you the right to say that, Rooster?" She sneered. "I'm working towards being an exorcist, same as everyone else! What would you say if I had a mental incapacitation that kept me from learning?!" Thank God she didn't stutter on that long word. 

"Well-wait, do you?" The guy faltered. Rin gave a dry smile.

"Does severe ADHD count?" She shrugged one shoulder.

"If you've lived this long with it, shouldn't you know how to deal with it?" Suguro pointed out, nonplussed.

"I do, but everything I had, including the things that helped me in school, are gone and I have no money to buy replacements." She explained, at the same time Yukio muttered

"Maybe we should've had you tested for Aspergers...." Rin shot him a withering glare.

"So how did you make it into this school? It's not cheap and I don't think you made it here on a scholarship. I haven't seen you pay proper attention to a single lesson. You just zone out, through every class!" Suguro pointed out.

"And even still, you still seem to get special treatment from Mr. Okumura! What, is he your boyfriend?! Or maybe he just likes you 'cause you're hot and right in front of him!" His friends were restraining him now, but Suguro seemed more like he wanted to win the argument instead of actually fighting. He wanted to be right. Sounded like something a kid would do-argue until someone let them win.

"Fat load of good trying to learn does me if it's not firsthand experience or interactive! And get that 'boyfriend' shit out of your head right now, that is my _twin brother!_ " Said twin had Rin's arms restrained. As if that would do anything. If Rin could lift a car, she was pretty sure she could break free of his hold any time she wanted. 

  
Which was exactly what she did. She threw him off of her and glared at him. Yukio stepped back, hands up in surrender.

The entire room was silent for a few seconds as everyone (except Shiemi, who already knew)processed the information they'd just been provided and the fact that Rin easily broke free of restraint from a guy who was bigger than her and a trained Exorcist. The silence was was broken by Yukio addressing Suguro.

"You had some excellent points, care to continue?" Yukio prompted the teen politely. Rin was two seconds away from breaking her vow of no fighting and decking her little brother. A week and a half since he'd pointed his gun at her and Rin was _still_ waiting for an apology. Didn't he love her? They'd grown up together. But had he really just seen a monster when he looked at his older sister all this time? That thought hurt, but she didn't let it show when she turned back around. 

  
"Listen here, Suguro: I'll pay attention to me and deal with my own problems and _you_ can mind your own damn business." She gave an innocent grin and then the bell rang to signal the end of the class.

She left without saying anything to anyone in that room.

§~•~§~•~§

"What's his deal?" Rin asked herself. Yukio sat with her and Shiemi on the fountain.

"He's a prodigy." Yukio answered even though he knew she wasn't talking to him. "He's attending the academy on a scholarship, like me. He's come from Kyoto with his two friends to be Exorcists. He and I are in the same advanced classes in regular school."

_Of course he is._ Rin sighed. Yukio left them shortly after to attend to whatever exorcist stuff he did that didn't involve shooting demons. They sat together on the fountain, neither of them knowing what to talk about. It was then that Rin realized that both her and Shiemi had no social lives and therefore no social skills. They'd both never been good with school either. That fact made her feel slightly better. She wasn't alone in this.

Finally, Shiemi spoke up. "Rin?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't really belong here at all, do I?" She wondered. 

"Oh yeah...." Rin remembered. "You're not trying to be an Exorcist or anything, huh? But that's not a big deal. No one can stop you from doing what you want now that you're in the class." Rin told her. 

"Rin....do you have any friends?" Rin quirked a brow at the odd question before shaking her head. "Nope." 

"Rin, would you..." Her face was suddenly very close to Rin's as Shiemi clasped her hands around Rin's. Her hands were calloused from gardening since she was young. Rin's cheeks suddenly flushed with heat as Shiemi was almost on top of her.

"Well, well, well." A familiar voice drawled behind them. "Look who's having a fine time of it!"

"A fine time of _what,_ Rooster?!" Rin demanded, whipping around and accidentally smacking Shiemi in the face with her hair. While the other girl spluttered, Rin and Suguro engaged in a glaring match. 

"You come to the finest Academy and bring your girl with you?" Suguro snorted. Rin's eye twitched. This guy was just talking out of his ass now. "You swing that way Okumura? Didn't think you were like that." 

  
"Yeah, no. You've got it wrong. I've known her for a few days and I have higher standards than that. And outing someone in front of other people is just a shit thing to do, man. Why don't you try attacking above the belt next time instead of shooting for the miniskirt? Or can you just not take your eyes off of the skirt for more than a few seconds to think of better insults?" Rin was gonna rip this guy a vagina of his own if he was gonna act like a bitch. "I'm not a lesbian, dipshit. I like everybody. And for good reason too, because apparently guys are still assholes so far after years of not learning how to deal with me. Maybe someone else will find a way to accomplish the task." Rin gave a smirk.

Suguro, to his credit, didn't falter and just kept going with the insults. Rin figured he knew he couldn't get out of this without looking like a moron so the best option was to just keep going until something stopped them. A solid technique.

"Oh? So what is your relationship with her? Are you just friends?" That infuriatingly smug grin made it's way to his face again, as if he expected a certain answer.

"Actually," Shiemi finally put in quietly. "I was just about to ask you that, Rin. A-Are we friends?" She wondered.

  
"Yeah, why?" Rin answered without a second thought. Shiemi glomped her with hug, which put her almost in Rin's lap. "I thought we already established this?" 

  
Rin looked back to Suguro and his two friends behind him. "And what about you?" She asked. "Never going anywhere without those lackeys of yours. What, can't handle yourself without your boyfriends? You're a sad piece of work, man." _Two can play at this game! If you can call me gay, than I have every right to do it right back!_

The words hung in the air for a moment, before the pink-haired boy behind Suguro burst out laughing.

"Hey! This isn't funny!" Suguro shouted at him. 

"No, she's right!" The guy wheezed. "We're not dating, but we _are_ always together, Bon...." Was that a nickname? It was an oddly cute nickname for someone like Suguro. Rin figured it was just what he'd been called when they were kids growing up and the two friends just never stopped calling him that.

"Whose side are you on?!" Suguro near-shrieked. The sound got a snicker out of Rin. Who knew a guy with a voice that deep and manly could hit that octave?

  
They parted ways and Rin went back to the lonely dorm to cook dinner for herself and then try to do as much homework as she could.


	5. Dumb vs Stupid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are plenty of people that think women should be treated gently and I believe Tsubakki would've reacted more severely in the scene where he got Suguro in trouble if Rin were a girl and got kicked in the back by a guy twice her size, even if Rin was the daughter of Satan. So here y'all go, drink up the Respect Women Juice™

Rin cackled as she ran far ahead of Suguro in the Arena. Suguro was no slouch when it came to speed and was a good distance in front of the Leaper they ran from, so Rin was way ahead. She could go even faster and probably outlap Suguro at least twice, maybe three times. But she couldn't show that she had a ton of demonic traits. The ears were easily hidden with her hair, her fangs weren't inquired about at all, surprisingly, and her tail wrapped around her torso uncomfortably all day until school was out and she could sleep with it out.

"You can be as smart as you like, Suguro, but it's not always going to help you in the real world!" She called back with a grin. 

  
Rin felt something hard hit her dead in the center of her back. Suguro had cut through the space between the Leaper and the column it was attached to by a chain to fucking _drop-kick_ her! Rin flew forward and rolled before sprawling on the ground in the dirt. She was trying desperately not to get up and just let him have it.

"What the hell was that for, are you _nuts?!_ " She yelled at him.

"I'll do whatever it takes to win against _you!_ " He answered, a triumphant grin on his face as he bent over, wheezing.

That turned out to be a mistake for him, because then he was easy prey for the Leaper. Or, at least he would have been, had the instructor not pulled the demon back to the column it was chained to at the last second using its chain. 

"What on earth are you two playing at?" Mr. Tsubaki demanded. "Are you trying to get yourselves killed?!"

"What the hell do you mean, 'you two?!' He just _drop-kicked me from the back!_ " Rin shrieked indignantly. The teacher backed off some. He knew Rin was the daughter of Satan and he'd be damned if he pissed her off during his class and got her caught. She was still a lady, though, so he moved forward slowly and cautiously to help her up. 

"I didn't want to lose to her." Suguro panted. "Even if it killed me!"

"Then you're a fucking _idiot_ and you should be expelled before you get yourself and your team killed in the future! If you even make it to Exorcist level, that is! What kinda guy sabotages his own team?!" Rin was still going off on him and Tsubakki stood there patiently next to her after helping her up, waiting for her to finish. Women were scary and if he'd learned anything from his seven year long marriage to his wife, you should never interrupt a woman in the middle of a tyrad.

When Rin was done, he instructed her to climb back up to the elevated platform to rejoin her classmates. "Go on young lady, make sure those cuts don't get infected." He murmured to her. Then he turned to Suguro. 

"I told you already, _this is not a race!_ This is training to help you get used to dealing with demons' movements! What on earth is your problem?!" He asked.

"Sensei, she doesn't take anything seriously!" He answered. 

"Well, she seemed to be taking this exercise quite seriously until you _drop-kicked her from the high heavens!_ And what was with that?! Did your parents teach you _nothing_ about how to treat a lady?" Tsubakki chewed him out good. He'd grown up being taught to respect women and he wouldn't have that right taken away from a young lady in his class, even if it was the daughter of Satan!

"You're an excellent student and you've got high expectations from teachers." The man told him. Suguro nodded. He knew this lecture. 

"So please don't start trouble, alright? Especially with Okumura. She's a special case and no one knows much about it, so just stay away from her, okay?" Tsubakki told him seriously. Suguro nodded and was allowed to return to the platform.

Meanwhile, Suguro's bald and pink-haired friends had approached Rin once she was up the ladder. Shiemi was looking at the scrapes on Rin's hands and frowning when Rin noticed the two boys. 

"Sorry about that!" The pink-haired boy apologized sheepishly. "What's his deal anyway...?" Rin grumbled.

"Forgive him for that, please?" The bald one–Konekomeru was what Suguro and Shima called him– requested politely.

"He might not look like it, but Bon takes everything so seriously, he gets real worked up over little stuff like this. He joined this place with a crazy ambition, you see...." Shima told her.

"Ambition, huh? What ambition gives him the excuse to treat me like he wants me to disappear from existence?" Rin gave them a flat look. 

"Ah, Bon is aiming to become an exorcist so that he can 'defeat Satan himself.'" Shima said. Rin blinked in surprise, looking mildly disgruntled. _Wow. Small world. What are the odds of that?_

"Heh, I know. Crazy, right?" Shima laughed.

_That's funny, but not for the reason you think, buddy. How can this Rooster-looking jerk have the same ambition as me? And even more so, how does he even aim to do that? I'm the daughter of Satan, so I could get that far if I trained hard, but you're a_ **_human!_ ** _You really think you could take down the_ **_God of Demons?_ **

"Shima, you can't laugh!" Koneko scolded his best friend.

"No, he's right, it's pretty stupid. I'm not really one to judge though...." Rin agreed, snickering. Konekomeru didn't hear and kept talking.

"Our temple was destroyed in the Blue Night, you know...." He started. Rin prepared herself for the Tragic Backstory she knew was coming. "All Bon's doing is trying to rebuild it!"

"Blue Night? What's that?" Rin wondered. For a girl who was raised by the Paladin and had a twin brother that was already an Exorcist, she knew next to nothing about their world. It was starting to really suck. Rin hated being clueless.

"You don't know?" Konekomeru gaped.

"Wouldn't be asking if I did, buddy." Rin responded, toning down the sarcasm so she wouldn't offend him too much.

"Wow, that's a rarity...." Shima marveled. 

"The Blue Night was a day sixteen years ago, when Satan murdered a huge number of the world's greatest holy men. Our temple was among the victims." _God damnit, that was probably because of me. Can things get any worse for my reputation at this point?!_

"Both of us are apprentices of Bon's father, the temple's Most High Priest. And from what the Most High Priest told us, on that night, all the powerful exorcists of the temple including the previous Most High Priest, suddenly started shedding blood from all over their bodies and breathing blue flames as they died, one by one." 

"Blue flames are the mark of Satan, of course," Shima reminded her helpfully. _Never woulda guessed. I totally thought my fire was magenta._ Rin thought sarcastically. On the outside, she cringed, a grimace on her face. 

  
"The current High Priest, who was just a monk-in-training back then, sat in a corner of the holy hall, praying the whole night. Later, he took over the temple himself, but everyone was scared away from the temple after that horrible massacre. Before long, it was known as 'The Cursed Temple.' People stayed away from it and still do, even sixteen years later. The place was ruined before Bon was even old enough to walk and talk...." The smaller boy concluded sadly.

"Ah, looks like they're done. Hey, Okumura, wanna talk more later, maybe over some Ramen? I know a great place downtown." Shima offered. Rin considered it. Guys had never asked her out, so this was a nice change. But Shima was kind of a perv and she didn't want someone who had the possibility of taking someone else that wasn't her on dates behind her back if they dated.

"No thanks. Sweet of you to ask though. And call me Rin." She answered.

"Ask what?" Shiemi popped up next to Rin and she almost had a heart attack, forgetting the girl was still there.

Shima shrugged. "Worth a shot." Konekomeru just sighed, shaking his head.

"Did he actually just try to ask her out?" Suguro asked Konekomeru when he made it to the platform.

But Koneko's answer was interrupted. "Time to get back to work!" Tsubakki announced. That didn't actually happen, because an annoying ringtone went off just then and Tsubakki pulled out his phone and answered it.

"Yes, Honey? Say what?! Right now~? Oh, what would you do without me, Kitten~?" _I did_ ** _not_** _need to hear my teacher's bedroom voice._ _Coulda_ _gone my whole life without hearing that...._

"Everyone!" He announced to the whole class. "We're going to be taking a short break!"

"Huh?!" Suguro choked out, a pained and slightly disgusted look on his face that looked how Rin felt after witnessing that conversation.

"Listen carefully, children! The Leaper is ordinarily a docile demon, but it has the nasty habit of reading people's minds and attacking if you don't remain calm! Until I get back, every one of you is to stay up here, out of range of the Leaper's leash! Got it?" He didn't even wait for an answer. "If that's clear, then I'm off! I'll be right there, Kitten~!" He called, running faster than Rin thought possible for a man in his late thirties. Time waited for no one and nothing–including booty calls.

_Oh god, why am I thinking about this?_

"And he calls himself a teacher!" Suguro spat angrily. "I thought True Cross Academy was supposed to be a sacred place of learning, full of people who took their studies seriously!" He glared at Rin very obviously, probably trying to rile her up. "And don't even get me _started_ on the students!"

Rin was too busy cracking up to hear him. "He seriously just did that! Our teacher just left....to _bang his wife, holy shit!_ " She wheezed.

  
"Are you listening?!" Suguro scowled at her.

"Sorry, what?" She turned to him with the most perfect grin he'd ever seen–which was strange because 1) he'd never really been interested in a girl before and 2) though her teeth were pearly white and perfectly straight, she seemed to have fangs and he didn't even find them deterring, she was still super pretty. He ignored the heat that wanted to rise to his cheeks in favor of continuing to provoke the girl.

"The fact that you find this so funny just proves my point. This school is a disappointment because of people like _you._ " 

"You know, you sure are running your mouth off today! What makes you think I don't take this stuff seriously?" Rin wondered.

"The way you act in class!"

"There they go again...." Shima sighed behind Suguro.

"Bon, you're acting pretty immature. That's not how you treat a lady...." Rin struggled not to laugh more. She'd never been treated like a lady before, this was normal for her.

"Cut her a break, yeah, Bon?" Konekomeru agreed.

"You two stay out of this!" Suguro snapped at his friends, who backed away. Rin frowned. They were his friends for a reason. If they'd dealt with him all these years, why wouldn't he listen to them now?

"Hey, I know," Suguro said. "How about you prove to me that you're serious about becoming an exorcist?" Rin raised a brow. Suguro continued.

"That thing." He pointed at the Leaper. "If you can touch it and make it back without getting attacked, you win. The Leaper looks into the eyes of the people around it and reads their emotions. If it picks up on any insecurities, it attacks.   
As long as you stay calm, it won't attack. If you're planning on becoming an exorcist, then you shouldn't be scared of a Leaper. I'll do it too, and I'll win! If you make it back without being attacked as well, then I'll accept that you've got some proper resolve! So, you gonna do it or what?" Suguro explained. 

"Wow. Sounds interesting." Rin admitted with a smirk. "But it also sounds stupid, so I'm not gonna do it."

"Huh?!" He'd really expected her to take the bait. He seemed pretty disappointed that she didn't fall for it. All he wanted was attention, then.

"What if I screwed up and got myself killed in a really stupid way?" Rin wondered. "I'm not a genius but I _do_ have more than three brain cells. I've got ambitions, just like you do. I can't risk my life on a stupid thing like this just because _you_ decided to be a baby and whine for my attention. And I don't have to prove anything to you, you _dick._ "

Suguro opened his mouth to respond, but realized something. He turned to glare over his shoulder at his friends "You told her, didn't you?"

"Nooooo...." Shima answered, looking away. Suguro shook his head at them.

"That's a betrayal...." He muttered to himself. He turned back to Rin, even angrier now. "You're just scared, aren't you?! Why don't you fight?! Aren't you bitter at all?!" 

"Hell yeah, I'm bitter! But there's a difference between bitter and petty, Suguro." Rin told him seriously. Booksmarts weren't her thing, but street smarts were.

  
"Well, _I'm_ gonna do it!" The boy stated. "So you just stand there and watch, you cowards!"

Rin stepped forward to stop him. "You really shouldn't–! Aaaand he's already gone. Alright then."

He slid down the slanted edge of the observation area into the arena. Rin was starting to realize that there was nothing she could say that would reach him. Behind her, she heard protests from the rest of the class, but no one else moved to stop him. At first, it looked like he was gonna do it. But then.....

"I'm gonna defeat Satan!" 

Laughter from Kamiki rang out behind her, but Rin don't join in. Defeating Satan was also her goal. She felt something shift. Not physically, but just in the energy of the room. 

Rin was down there before the thing could snatch up her idiotic classmate. She ended up between the demon and the boy when the Leaper moved to attack. It bit down on her body and she ignored the pain in her ribs. It didn't break anything or cut her, so that was good.

"RIN!!" Shiemi screamed from the platform. Aw, she was so worried! That warmed Rin's heart. The other two girls screamed wordlessly. Shima and Koneko both shouted, but she didn't know if they'd said anything or not. 

Rin looked at the Leaper. It stared into her eyes and her gaze hardened.

_Get off me._

It didn't move. 

_I said_ **_BACK OFF!!_ **

The demon flinched and backed away, unlatching it's mouth around her. Rin rounded on Suguro next. He was staring up at her like she was a goddess, jaw dropped open in shock and awe. It was a nice look on him, but she was too angry at him to notice that at the moment. 

"I thought you were a genius! Are you kidding me?! I don't care about what you think you're accomplishing being a reckless douchebag, but I _can_ tell you right now that it's not worth your _life!_ You came here to study on a _scholarship,_ Suguro! _I_ should not be lecturing _you!_ " She let him have a piece of her mind.

_Rin_ was the one that did stupid reckless stuff, not the guy at the top of all his classes in both regular school and cram school! It was almost insulting that she had to be the smart one here. She came here to learn how to get stronger and kill Satan in vengeance for giving her such a terrible existence, not to learn Shakespeare or what happened during World War II in regular classes she'd never wanted to take!

"Lemme tell you something: _I'm_ gonna be the one to take down Satan. So _get lost!_ " She finished.

Suguro gaped at her. "Wha–you can't steal my ambition! That was my plan since I was a kid!" He cried indignantly.

"And now it's mine! I have a better reason and better chances! Back off!" She wished she could tell her new friends her secret, but they'd probably never come near her again if she did.

§~•~§~•~§

"What's all this, Rin?" Yukio wondered curiously.

"Trying to study, obviously, you Four- eyed Mole-Face!" Rin answered, annoyed that he'd broken her concentration. She'd given up on giving him the silent treatment. Boys were dumb and Yukio probably didn't think he'd done anything wrong. All Rin could do now was act normal and hope for the best on her relationship with Yukio. It hurt her heart that he never apologized, but she couldn't do anything about that.

"Really?!" He gasped super dramatically. "Could this be some kind of omen?!" He wondered. Rin took a deep breath and counted to ten silently in her head. She was still angry, but slightly less likely to punch her brother.

"Can you go two seconds without insulting my intelligence? I'm not dumb, I'm stupid. There's a difference. Dad used to tell me that. Of course, _you've_ probably never heard it in your life, _Mr. Perfect._ " She snarled. Rin wasn't jealous enough to hate her brother for his booksmarts, but she also didn't need it constantly rubbed in her face that she was a lowlife. She already knew that.

"So what's the difference, Rin?" Yukio asked.

"Dumb is lacking knowledge, Stupid is knowing it's wrong and doing it anyways. I skipped a lot of school as a kid and it's biting me in the ass now." She mumbled, repeating exactly what Shiro had told her. Her hair covered her face when she looked down at the book again and she sighed in irritation. She liked having her hair long, but it got in the way whenever she was looking down at the work on her desk at school or trying (unsuccessfully)to study at home. 

She didn't notice Suguro coming to stand in front of her. "Did you need something?" She asked, raising a brow at him. "If you're here to join in on making fun of me, you can hit the road, Jack. I ain't doin this shit today." 

What he said was not what she expected. "I uh....I missed my chance to say it yesterday." He started, looking awkward standing there above her. "Thanks." He mumbled, cheeks tinting pink. Then he pulled a hairclip out of his pocket and offered it to her. Rin blinked at in for a moment before hesitantly taking it from him. 

"Are you okay? You're not sick or anything?" She asked, just to make sure. He scowled.

"I'm trying to be nice, just take it!" He grumped, crossing his arms.

"Okay, I'm just making sure! It's not like you've been nice to me before!" She snapped back defensively. But she did pull her bangs back and clip them in place. The clip held the thick locks down securely, so she counted it as a win.

"Thanks." She smiled. His cheeks turned red and he muttered something like "Yeah, whatever." Before going back to his desk where Shima proceeded to tease him.

She wondered if Suguro would be willing to still be her friend even after all the stuff he called her out on. That would be nice.


	6. It's The Thing From Godzilla?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My excuse for using Rodan in this as a demon is that in the BE world, some Exorcist decided that they could use the appearances of demons and make them into a comic series depicting some as "Titans" and Monarch was like a society of peaceful Exorcists. The person only got away with it bc no one was any the wiser except Exorcists about the demons.

"You have a month and a half long summer holiday coming up, but before that is this year's ExWire Authorization Exam. Since it's purpose is to provide combat training rather than just make you ExWires, the exam won't be easy." Yukio announced to the class, weeks after the Leaper incident.

Rin's hair had grown past her butt and as glorious as it was, she had to make sure to hold it up before she sat down because sitting on your hair hurt a lot. She should get someone to trim it sometime.....

She'd been able to hold a couple decent conversations with Suguro, so that was nice. Shiro's condition was improving, albeit very slowly. Her relationship with Yukio wasn't any better, unfortunately.

"I'll be holding a one-week training camp for the examinations, starting next week. If you wish to participate in the Training Camp, please fill out this form with your desired Meister and submit it to me by Monday." Yukio continued up at the front. He passed the forms to them.

Rin stared down at the paper, not understanding what any of it meant, before sighing at her hair falling into her face again and pulling out the clip Suguro gave her and pulling her bangs out of her face.

Rin went over to the desk that Shima, Koneko, and Suguro sat at and held up her paper. "Could someone please explain to me what a Meister is?" She requested.

"You don't even know what a Meister is and you're saying you want to become an exorcist? Get real! Isn't your brother an exorcist?" Suguro recalled.

"Being that nerd's big sister doesn't mean he always has time for me. he's busy all the time." She groaned. "C'mon, I thought we were friends now!" 

Suguro blinked a couple times at the friends part. He'd been busy staring at her pout, which was really cute. _I need to get myself together, this is ridiculous...._ _I came here so I could defeat Satan and restore the honour of my temple, not stare at dumb ditzy chicks in my classes!_

"A Meister is a–"

"Konekomeru!" Suguro snapped. "Don't tell her! She's gotta learn some stuff on her own!" 

"Don't snap at Koneko just because _he_ knows how to be nice to people and _you_ don't!" Rin snapped at him in turn.

Koneko ignored his best friend and told the girl about Meisters. "The five categories are Knight, Dragoon, Tamer, Aria, and Doctor. You can become an exorcist if you acquire the title of Meister in any of the five categories. Knight is Swords, obviously. Dragoon is guns or anything within shooting capabilities. Tamer is those who fight using demons to do their bidding. Aria memorize and recite holy texts to eradicate demons with their fatal verses or seal them with mantras. Doctor is pretty obvious." He explained simply.

"I understand now! Thanks Konekomeru!" She gave the small boy a bright smile. "What are you guys going for?" She wondered curiously.

"Hey, what's with you people acting so friendly with each other?!" Suguro demanded angrily. No one heeded his question.

"Shima and I have our eyes on Aria." Konekomeru answered proudly. He was such a gentleman to her and could easily get those bright smiles from the girl.

Suguro found himself a little jealous because he could never get her to smile at him. Every time he wanted to say something that would make her smile, she'd ruin it by doing or saying something stupid and then all he wanted to do was call her out on her bullshit.

"Nah, Shima you should do something else. I think you and I both know that you're too lazy to memorize even one book of the Bible. Go for Knight or Dragoon or even try Tamer. Me and you are better at more practical stuff." She advised, leaning over the desk to erase his check mark in the box of Aria. Shima's cheeks tinted pink at how close she was and Suguro wanted to slap him for some reason. Shima blinked a few times and seemed to compose himself once again. 

"Bon's gonna push himself until he gets Aria and Dragoon!" Shima told her, successfully diverting her attention to something other than him.

"Seriously?" She didn't sound surprised. More like impressed. "As expected of Bon!" She grinned at him. Suguro was smart. He was choosing a secondary Meister that would let him defend himself and be more efficient to the team he worked in as he recited holy scriptures and defended himself. Rin could respect that.

"It's Suguro!" He snapped, correcting her. "Don't go snugglin' up to me!" She deflated a bit and nodded, frowning. Well, that effectively wiped the pretty smile off her face. Not exactly what he'd wanted to do, but he had appearances to keep up.

The conversation carried on. "Didn't Mr. Okumura also get a double Meister in Doctor and Dragoon?" Konekomeru remembered. Rin nodded, wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah, that little brother of mine is really something, huh? He's not allowed to have his guns anywhere near me. I don't do bullets, I do blades." She gestured to the red case slung across her back. Suguro noted that she looked kinda cute with her nose wrinkled like that.

  
"You could still go for Tamer, you know." Suguro suggested, muttering almost resentfully.

Rin smirked at him. "Aw, you just can't resist helping others, can you, Suguro?" She snickered. She reached over and ruffled his hair, getting a complaint from the older teen about how long it took to do his hair in the morning.

"Dude, I take that long just trying to brush all the knots out of my hair. It's gotten so long that I have to have it braided at night to keep it manageable." Rin sighed.

"I thought you said you couldn't really do hair well?" Shima recalled. He really remembered that tiny detail? Man, Shima must have been really interested in Rin. Suguro wondered if he should warn her, but decided that she should be able to see through creeps by now if she had a body like that.

"Eh, ponytails and simple braids, otherwise I'm hopeless at hair. I would've cut it off as a kid to be more manageable, but the guys all felt bad about raising me like a boy, so they let me keep my hair long. They used to do my hair for me when I wanted anything fancier than what I could do. My....my dad told me I looked a lot like my mom with it long, too." She smiled softly at the end, subconsciously running a hand through her hair as she talked.

"It would look good either way. I think it would be really fluffy and probably still a mess if you cut it short, heh." Shima told her. Rin chuckled with him.

"Yeah, it probably would. Even when it was only to my chin, it was a mess of curls. But people always tell me it looks good, so I just keep it. It's long and thick enough that if I flip it in front of my face after a shower, I look like the girl from that one horror movie. Scared the living daylights out of my brother like that once." She cackled.

§~•~§~•~§

"Pay attention class, this is important for a Tamer." Mr. Nehause called. Rin bit her lip, careful not to cut it on her fangs as she thought hard. On one hand, she could get a familiar that could be a high-class demon and give herself away as the daughter of Satan and resident Princess of Hell. On the other hand, she might get something actually useful and not super obvious to help her on the battlefield. 

Nehause stood in front of a large magic circle drawn on the floor with chalk.

"How did he get that circle so perfect?" Rin muttered, somewhat impressed. Shima snickered next to her and her face burned in embarrassment.

"No, don't be embarrassed. It's a good question." He insisted quietly. Rin grinned at him before turning back to the demonstration.

"Don't step on the circle." He snapped at Shiemi, who'd stepped forward in interest. "If you do, the magic circle is broken and it loses its effect." He showed his bloody and heavily bandaged hand. Those bandages really needed changing, that could get infected. And now she sounded like Yukio, oh god. 

  
"Your blood is necessary for a successful summoning, along with whatever chant comes to your mind if you have the talent for summoning." A few drops of his blood fell onto the chalk circle, and he chanted some seriously creepy piece, though she only caught the end of it when he muttered it–"The son of Typhoeus and Echidna, answer my request and come out!"

An arm shot up from the middle of the circle as if the floor was water, followed by the rest of the demon's body as it pulled itself into the material world, foul-smelling smog spilling from the circle around it. It groaned at it's master, but stood still.

"Not many humans can summon demons and make them work as a familiar. Sheer spiritual fortitude is needed to tame the demons, but natural talent is also essential. It does help if you have a connection to demons." Nehause explained.

Everyone stared at the demon in both awe and fear. "Woah, that's a Naberius? It's the first time I've seen one in person...." Suguro murmured.

"Ugh, it stinks..." Shima groaned. Rin could agree with that, her sense of smell was being seriously assaulted right now.

"I'll be testing you now to see if you have the talent." Nehause told them. "On the paper I gave you at the start of class, smear your blood where the magic circle has been roughly sketched. Then chant any words that come to mind."

  
The first one to succeed was Kamiki, the bitchy tsundere with the long purple pigtails, pretty ruby-red eyes, and interesting polka-dot eyebrows.

_I ask the grace of the goddess_ _Inari_

_God of the Harvest_

_Grant my wishes and leave not my prayers unfulfilled!_

Two white foxes with red markings and bows around their necks appeared from smoke around the girl and Nehause looked dually impressed.

"Two byakkos....very good, Miss. Kamiki." Nehause told her. The girl, of course, started bragging that she was a Miko and inherited the Byakko through her sacred bloodline. Rin rolled her eyes as Paku, Kamiki's best and only friend, fed into the girls ego.

  
"That's amazing, Izumo!" Paku congratulated. "I'm really useless at this stuff...." She sighed in resignation.

"I've got no talent," Suguro and Shima admitted at the same time.

"Me neither." Konekomeru shook his head. "What about you, Okumura?" The boy looked up at her curiously.

"Should I really try?" She asked him. "Yeah! I think you might have a great shot at a Tamer meister!" He answered encouragingly.

"Ah, what the hell?" She muttered, pricking her thumb and smearing the blood across the paper and waiting for words to appear in her head.

_Come to me through the fire_

_To grant my wishes, my deeds, and my prayers_

_I choose you and I've chosen my pyre_

_To keep away the world's_ _despairs_

_Keep me in your heart, your mind, and your soul_

_And stray away from humanity's pull_

_I summon you to do my bidding_

_Rodan of the hottest Fire_

Rin opened her eyes, not even realizing she'd closed them, and blinked at the small fire that had just burst to life over her magic circle. Then, the flames faded, showing very small bird-like demon flapping it's wings to hover over the paper. Rin blinked and it blinked too. 

"Um." She said, not knowing what to do with this little demon she'd just summoned. It looked mostly like a bird, with dark brown-black feathered wings that ended in smoldering embers that fell away to ashes off the bottoms of the wings. It had a normal bird's beak, but it's eyes were very obviously demonic. The sclera was yellow and the irises glowed a fiery orange, the slit pupils fixating on Rin's normal dark blue eyes.

Rodan had small talons like thumbs on the tops of his wings like a bat. It's feet were sharp, gleaming talons that would obviously be used to kill.

It cocked its head at her and let out a quiet, short sound–it sounded like something between a shriek and a chirp, a shrill sound that slightly grated Rin's ears. 

"Ah, that's–" Nehause began.

"It's the thing from Godzilla!!" Rin blurted out in surprise, cutting the man off.

"That's a fire demon. I saw it somewhere in a book once." Suguro corrected.

"H-His name is Rodan. Or maybe that's his species...." Rin told them. "I-I just knew the words...." Rodan was about the size of her hand and super adorable.

"That's so cool, Rin! Let me try next!" Shiemi cheered excitedly. Shiemi was the last one to successfully summon a demon.

"Come out, come out wherever you are..." She called in her soft voice. Rin kept silent, but raised a brow. Rodan was watching the blonde intently.

After a moment of awkward silence, a tiny creature that looked to be made of plants poofed into existence with a high-pitched "Nee!" They all stared at it for a second in slight confusion. What was it? It was way too cute to be a demon!

"That's a greenman spirit." Nehause told her. "How wonderful, Moriyama." He sounded like he was saying the opposite of what his words were. His enthusiasm was so far down that it was all the way to the earth's core. Rin scowled at the man and then winced as Rodan hooked his little claws and talons in her shirt over her collarbone and chest to hang off her in a way that was slightly reminiscent of a bat.

"Shiemi, that's great! Since you're so good with plants, that familiar will help you a lot." Rin congratulated her warmly. She had to side-hug the girl so Rodan wouldn't be squished between them and Shiemi wouldn't drop Nee. 

"Aww, thanks, Rin!" She leaned into the hug, practically snuggling into the embrace since she could tuck herself under Rin's chin. Rin laughed when Rodan started shriek-chirping at Nee and Nii replied in his soft calls like a Pokemon. They watched the little greenman try to touch the burning ends of Rodan's wing and Rin jerked back. 

Rodan looked questioning up at her, glowing eyes blinking in question. "Wh–you can't just touch the _one thing_ made of leaves here, you'll set him on fire!" Rin told him like she would a child who should know better. He snapped his beak at her chin and she snapped at his beak back. "Don't you snap at me, you little brat, I bite back!" She warned. Rodan let out a trilling sound and snuggled into her collarbone. Rin snorted and turned back to the boys who were looking at her strangely. 

"What?" She asked.

"You just talk to it like it's a little kid?" Suguro winced.

"Pretty sure this little guy isn't that old. I think he'll grow more. Or maybe I'm talking to something that's hundreds of years old like it's five." She admitted. "I guess we'll see as the year goes on."

Shima shrugged and she smiled. "Yeah, I guess we will."

"There seems to be a bumper crop of Tamer prospects this year." Neuhaus noticed, as if the past two minutes didn't just happen. "Tamers are the rarest types of exorcists because Demons don't follow humans that are weaker than themselves, and they are especially keen on preying upon those that lack confidence. But as I said before, if the magic circle is broken, the familiar is relieved of its duty and disappears. If you feel like you're in danger, and you summoned a familiar with paper, just tear the paper."

Shiemi smiled up at her tiny familiar, who'd placed himself on her head. "I don't want to get rid of you, so be good okay?"

"Nee!"

"Can I call you Nee-chan?" The blonde asked politely. The familiar chirped again in agreement. Rin looked down at her own familiar.

"Is Rodan your name or is that what kind of demon you are? One noise for yes, two for no." She added the last part jokingly, but the little demon shriek-chirped once. Rin furrowed her brow.

"Rodan is your name?" She guessed. One chirp. Rin grinned and laughed, scratching the familiar under the beak. "Okay then, Rodan. Guess you and I are partners now."

§~•~§~•~§

After class, as everyone was walking down the enormous hallway, Rin ended up witnessing something that left a bad taste in her mouth. 

"Kamiki!" Shiemi called, running to catch up with Izumo and Paku.

"Izumo? She's calling you." Paku pointed out.

"Ignore her." Kamiki sighed. "Let's go, Paku. She pisses me off and I don't need worry wrinkles on my face so early."

Paku stopped in the middle of the hallway, obviously conflicted between listening to her best friend and being nice to Shiemi desperately trying to get Kamiki's attention. Desperation was not a good look on the blonde and Rin wished she wasn't so naive as to think Kamiki was friend material. But, she figured someone needed to witness this just in case things got out of hand. Then Rin could explain the black eye Kamiki would have if she so much as _touched_ Shiemi. 

"What are you always following me around for?! You think you're suddenly amazing because you summoned a tiny little familiar?! Go bother Okumura!" Kamiki snapped, whirling on the poor blonde. 

Rodan seemed to sense Rin's irritation and snapped his beak. Rin growled under her breath in agreement. 

"I....um...." Shiemi stuttered for a minute before she finally got to the point. "Please, be my friend!" She requested. Rin sighed and face- palmed.

"Someone's gotta teach her to read the room." She muttered, Rodan trilling quietly in agreement.

"Excuse me?" Whatever Kamiki was expecting, it wasn't a friend request. Did Shiemi realize who she was asking for friendship? Kamiki wasn't called the class bitch for nothing. She wasn't just unpleasant, she was downright terrible to anyone who wasn't Paku, and even Paku got snapped at sometimes! And yet, for some reason, Shiemi wanted to be her _friend?!_

"I only have Rin." Shiemi mumbled shyly. "And Rin's so wonderful and patient with me! But sometimes I feel like I annoy her...." Shiemi's shoulders fell and Rin released a long, tired breath of air. Shiemi was the _least_ annoying thing in her life right now. If Rin could grow up dealing with five men and her little brother, than she could definitely deal with Shiemi's ditzy personality. They were reaching peak levels of dumbass here. Rodan cooed quietly at her and she calmed down some.

"Hmm." Kamiki hummed contemplatively. Rin didn't like the look on her face. That was a predatory look. That was the look of a schemer thinking of ways to screw everyone else over. Should she stop this? No, Shiemi needed to learn some things through experience....

"Fine, we'll be your friends from now on." Kamiki decided.

"R-Really?!" The look on Shiemi's face was so happy, Rin couldn't wait until she realized she was being played. A darker part of Rin laughed at someone else suffering for once, but the rest of her felt bad for it.

Kamiki shoved her bag into Shiemi's arms and Rin did a full 180. "Well, then, hurry up and carry this! I don't have a lot of physical strength, so I get tired pretty quickly. Besides, friends are supposed to help each other out. You'll hold it for me, won't you?"

"I'll hold it for you." Rin volunteered, striding up to the trio. She plucked the bag out of Shiemi's hands and held it easily. It really wasn't that heavy.

"Jeez, Eyebrows. If you can't carry _this,_ your career as an exorcist is probably gonna be cut pretty short. Someone breaks those twiggy little arms of yours and you'll be useless, huh?" Rin told her, raising an eyebrow.

"R-Rin?" Shiemi gasped, not knowing the girl had seen the whole thing. 

"I have plenty of strength and stamina, so you can rely on me. Alright, Kamiki?" She kept her tone level as she had a stare down with the shorter girl, who's face was slowly turning an angry red. 

"Why are you here, Okumura?" Kamiki demanded, sneering.

"I'm trying to be a good friend. Friends are supposed to help each other out, right? So I thought I'd help by carrying your bag for you. And call me Rin." Her voice was sickly sweet like poison.

"No one asked for your help, _Rin_ _._ " The Miko growled. "Go away, now!" 

Rin threw her head back and laughed. "Or what? You'll hit me? Try it and see how that works out for you." She leaned down to get in Izumo's face. To her credit, the girl didn't back down. But, she was shaking like a leaf.

"But! If you want me gone, then I guess I'll take my leave. Shiemi and I have studying to do, so I hope you're able to carry your bag all the way back to your dorm today, sweetheart." Rin dropped the bag on the smaller girl's feet and grabbed hold of Shiemi's hand, pulling the blonde with her when she left.

But for the rest of the week, instead of making Shiemi carry her bag, Kamiki gave Shiemi orders. Sometimes she'd stare Rin dead in the eyes as she did. Rin glared daggers at her progressively until the other girl had to look away. Rodan was now a constant presence hanging off of her chest in Cram school. The teachers complimented her on having such good control over the familiar all the time. The little demon disliked Kamiki as much as Rin did and even tried to snap at her during lessons when he thought Rin wasn't looking. Rin taught him not to do that by plucking him off her chest and putting him on her back where he couldn't see Izumo. She knew he was pouting when he was put on her back too.

Rin watched Shiemi dutifully obey every order as Kamiki's 'friend.' It started simple with: "Can you go and deliver this for me?" and escalated to: "Go get my share of the herbs we're using for the next pharmacy class for me." and: "Melon bread, fruit milk." 

And with each order, Rin's restraint grew thinner and thinner. She said she wouldn't get into fights daily like she used to. Would it really be so bad to put someone in their place for hurting Rin's only friend just one time?


	7. Four Girls, One Demon, and a Sword

Rin and Yukio waited outside their dorm building for the other Cram School students to show up for the Training Camp. It was being held in their dorm because they were the only ones living there(for a good reason). Yukio was in his exorcist uniform while Rin had worn the only crop top that hadn't been shredded, ripped short shorts that had seen better days back before Rin had an ass, and her old slippers she'd salvaged from the monastery after it's destruction.

"Sister?" Yukio started. 

"Yes, brother?" Rin answered. 

"What's with the shirt? And that piercing?" He wondered.

Out of all the things she expected him to say, it was about her shirt and her jewelry. Not "behave yourself." or "Don't be too obvious," but he wanted to know what was up with her shirt and her belly button piercing. Dork.

She grinned sheepishly. "It's hot and I need to do laundry, so it's the only other shirt I have to wear besides my pyjama shirt. And as for the piercing, I thought it was funny and Dad couldn't not laugh when he saw it, so he let me keep it." She explained. The belly button jewelry in question was a glittery green pot leaf. The shirt was one of the few she'd gotten herself with her own money. It was a simple black halter crop-top that said "i have no tits." in white writing. She'd spent five minutes laughing over the fact that it was the only crop top to survive being shredded in the attack on the Monastery. Most of her dresser had been demolished and she was left with only a few articles of clothing. Thankfully, she kept her bras, underwear, stockings, and jewelry in a drawer under her bed, which had been protected by said bed, so she still had those. But her regular clothes had mostly been ruined, unfortunately. So, she'd been doing laundry frequently to keep her remaining clothes clean and borrowing some of Yukio's clothes sometimes. 

  
Yukio snorted. "Of all the shirts that could have survived. And I can't believe Dad let you keep that piercing in the first place." He rolled his eyes. She shrugged. "Eh, what can ya do?"

The rest of the Cram class arrived at that moment and their conversation ended. Suguro almost stopped in his tracks when he saw how little she was wearing. Rin was....built. He knew she was pretty strong from watching her during P.E., but damn, she had _abs_ while maintaining that curvy figure. And a belly button piercing?! Rin was full of surprises. Those near-booty shorts were just emphasizing those long, perfect legs, too.

He was snapped out of his reverie by Shima laughing loudly next to him. The pink haired boy was hunched over laughing harder than Suguro had seen him laugh in days. "Hey, what's so funny?" He nudged the boy with his elbow.

"H....Her shirt...! And she has a _pot leaf_ as her belly button piercing!" He laughed. Confused, Suguro looked back up at Rin to see what was so funny about her shirt and blanched at the words on it. Even Konekomeru was snickering. Rin was looking away from them, biting her lip to keep from smiling sheepishly. Yukio shook his head and welcomed them inside.

"Can I help you up, my lady?" Shima offered as they passed Rin, offering her his hand. She took it, smiling. "Oh look, there's a gentleman in there somewhere! How sweet." She let him pull her up and she followed them inside. Suguro felt the jealousy burning through him once again, but he ignored it. Okumura was an idiot, why should he care whether or not she flirted with Shima?

§~•~§~•~§

"Alright time's up. Please flip your worksheets over and pass them to the front of the table. That's enough for today. Tomorrow, I want you all up at 6 AM sharp, and we'll go over the answers to your questions."

Rin shifted for the first time in an hour. She stretched, reaching her arms up to the ceiling and arching her back, feeling the bones pop. She didn't notice Suguro and Shima watching her, cheeks flushing red at the sight. But Yukio did. The young teacher snapped his pencil in half and gave them both a withering glare. They quickly looked anywhere but the girl. He didn't seem to notice Shiemi watching his sister with a similar attentiveness to the boys.

It was stuffy in the room since the dorm had no air conditioning. Even with the window open, it was hot outside and there was little to no breeze to cool them off. The room was humid and they'd been sitting there for two and a half hours. "Ugh, I'm gonna go see if there's a breeze coming from behind the dorm." Rin said. She was glad she'd been sitting on her knees and not a chair. At least she didn't have to unstick her thighs from a seat. 

"Yeah, you look like you're getting heat stroke." Suguro admitted in slight concern. " _Feel_ like I'm getting heat stroke too...." She muttered, getting up and making her way to the door after slinging the Koma Sword across her back. Rin felt hot enough to breathe fire.

"Paku, let's go take a bath." Kamiki said, not even requesting and just assuming Paku wanted to take a bath with her. Of course Paku agreed, but Kamiki didn't give her a choice and the girl was too nice to say no even if she didn't want to. She was worse than Shiemi. "A bath? I'll come too!" Shiemi cried.

"Hey Rin, do you want to take a bath with us?" Paku offered. Rin would love to join them, but how would she hide her tail? She was hiding it in her thick hair right now and had mastered keeping it still when in other people's company. And she could hide it under the water if she put bubbles in.....Could she pull this off?

Rin saw her brother give her that look. Yet, when she opened her mouth, what came out was "You know what, sure!" She could bathe with other girls like she'd never gotten to and she could keep an eye on Kamiki and Shiemi. Rin practically strutted out of the room with the three girls, hair swishing behind her and face set in a wide smile. 

  
Suguro and Shima watched her go as she wrapped an arm around Shiemi's waist protectively, trading glares with Kamiki.

  
"Hmm, a bath full of pretty girls sounds nice after staring at paper for the last two hours...." Shima mused. Suguro smacked him on the back of the head for the comment, but the image was already planted in his head: A naked Rin Okumura stepping into the steaming water of a bath. Long hair covering her breasts, her bare slim waist, wide hips, and overall perfect curves on display, flawless skin bared to the three other girls in their class. Suguro wondered what it would be like to grab that waist and pull her closer, up against him-and he shut that train of thought down before it got any further.

"There's Shima's bad habit again." Konekomeru sighed. "Please remember that there is a teacher present." Yukio interjected from his place at the end of the table where he graded papers. His glasses flashed almost threateningly and Suguro leaned farther away from him.

"Teacher, _totally._ " Shima agreed sarcastically, patting the teen on the shoulder like they were best buddies. "But aren't you a Freshman like the rest of us? You can't be _that_ different from us in _that_ part of being a teenager." 

"I'm against reckless adventures as a principle." Yukio was the opposite of his fun-loving, reckless, dorky sister. "And women don't interest me."

"Oh? So what do you think about the rest of us, then?" Shima wondered curiously, taking the information in stride. "And that's enough outta you. Get outta here before someone throws you out a window, you mindless moron!" Suguro slapped a hand over the pink haired boy's mouth and pulled him over to the door, pushing him out. 

  
"God, I wish he could learn to read the room." Suguro groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. "Or just have more common sense in general." Konekomeru added. "I was about to remind Shima that my sister could beat the living daylights out of him if she wanted." Yukio sighed.

"You're not super protective of her?" Suguro questioned. "I'm plenty protective, but I also know that my sister can handle herself. If anyone ever gives her unwanted attention, she'll serve them exactly what they deserve without my help." Yukio snorted. "She could break someone's ribs faster than I could pull my guns and shoot them."

"I feel like I should be deterred, but that just sounds cool. And really convenient for someone as beautiful as Okumura-chan." Konekomeru admitted. Yukio smiled at him, a rare genuine smile. "Thank you. My sister doesn't need protection, but she _does_ need someone to have her back." He admitted.

§~•~§~•~§

Paku seemed like she had something important she wanted to tell Kamiki, so Rin pulled Shiemi over to the other side of the lockers to have their own important conversation. 

"Why do you do everything she tells you, even when you don't want to? And _don't_ tell me you always want to because I've seen your face when she tells you to do things that you don't care for." Rin asked quietly, toeing off her slippers. 

  
"Because that's what friends do." Shiemi stated resolutely. Rin shook her head. "Shiemi, there's a difference between being friends and being a servant. Kamiki uses you to carry things and run errands that she's too lazy to do. She's _using_ you." Rin sighed, setting the Koma Sword against the wall.

"If I'm nice and do things for her then she'll like me more and do things for me too!" Shiemi explained her logic. Rin was getting frustrated with this. Shiemi needed to understand what was wrong here.

"Kamiki is _not_ your friend!" Rin hissed, grabbing Shiemi's wrist. "She treats you like crap, how could you think she'd ever be nice to you?! My Dad used to say treat others how you want to be treated. So if Kamiki is treating you like trash, then _she's_ trash. Because you are the nicest person I know and you don't deserve this." Rin told her seriously.

Shiemi needed to know the truth no matter how much it hurt.

"I....I'm always hiding behind someone and I hate it! I just want to be strong and help someone like you and Yuki! You both helped me move on and leave my garden to see the world! This is the first time I've ever made friends! You wouldn't understand, Rin! You've always been strong, and had friends! You've always been popular!" Shiemi cried. 

"No I haven't! _You're_ my first real friend, you doofus! You can be friends with whoever the hell you want! I just don't want you to get hurt by people who want to take advantage of your kindness!" Rin growled, taking her top off and sliding her shorts off as she talked. 

Before Shiemi could retort, Kamiki and Paku screamed from the next row of lockers over. Rin and Shiemi ran to the other side to see what was wrong and found an unconscious Paku laying under a snarling, smelly Nabarius and Kamiki standing in just her bra and panties a few feet away. Her summoning papers were clutched in her hands, but Rin realized that it wouldn't be a good idea for her to summon at the moment. Kamiki seemed really shaken up over something. Her familiars would turn on her.

"Shiemi, go get Yukio, _now!_ " She ordered the girl and the blonde nodded, running out of the room. She was luckily still dressed.

"Kamiki!" Rin called to her. The girl's head whipped to her. "Give me a summoning paper! Whatever happened just now, you're too insecure! I can summon Rodan and get us out of this, I promise!" She told the girl, Kurikara in hand. If anything, she could beat the thing with the sheathe. Kamiki, surprisingly, listened and gave her a summoning paper.

Rin murmured Rodan's Incantation and the familiar screeched as he appeared. He'd gotten bigger in the last week and was now about the size of a grapefruit. "Rodan, distract that Nabarius while I get Paku!" She commanded. The demon chirped in understanding and flew away to go piss off the rot demon standing over Paku. 

While it was distracted, Rin lunged forward and grabbed Paku's arm, pulling her back with Kamiki. 

"Rin!" Shiemi was back with her familiar and no Yukio. _Thanks a lot._ "I'll treat Paku! Keep it distracted!" She had Nii grow some aloe and got to work.

"Alright, let's go, shitstain!" Rin ran in to help Rodan. She batted at the Nabarius and Rodan blew small spurts of fire into its face and clawed it with his talons, keeping it occupied. Finally, the thing got a good hit in and tossed Rin through the glass door to the showers. It was on her in a second, but Rodan was very helpful in keeping it from completely crushing her. 

.  
 **P̷̯̤̪͈̓͑̐͘͘͟ͅr̨̛̛̞͈̯̻͕̦͂͋̅͑̒́̾̚ͅi̜̰̻̯̘͚͚̣̳͕͆̍͊̃͘n̴̛̙̱͖̤̦̱̭̺̽̄͐̑͐̕͞c̲͙͓̩̔̍̆̂̑̕͜͜͢͜e̠̞̱͔͔̲͉̣̬̾́̍̿͗s̨̛̞̳͔̝̮̗̹͐͆̏̍̊̈͘͠s̴̡̛̛͙̗̝̝̮̘͂͊̄͗͋.̛̳͖͎̭̣͔̑̃̒̊̾̃͌͝͝.̸̛̭͎̤̙͇̬̮̜̔̑̾̈̓̕̕͟͠.̷̱̬̜͕̤̈́͗̈̾̇͒͢͡͠**

The demon groaned, finally pinning her down and getting a hand around her throat.

.  
.  
 **F̧̻͙̼̭͒͑͆̓̐͝ơ̷̫̱̗̥̫̝̞͂͂̅̉̓͛̅͘r̳̞̝̬͚̗̖͓̙̤̐̄̉̑g̛͎͕̙̙̫̙͕̻̝͓͗͑͗̔̈́̑̃̕̚ḯ̧̛̯͈͓͔̱͇̟̩͕̉̐͘͝ṽ̖͚̭̖͙̖͛̀͆͢͡ͅe̶͖͉̪̫͙̩̝̣͍͊̏̂̌͋́̿͘͟͠ m̶̛̰̫͍̹͔̉͛̂̒̽͋̌̕e̸̛̘͉͔̯̙̙̖̥͓̅̐̓̉̕͢͞͞.̩̳͍̗̠̯̭̒͐̈̍̕͘͡.̢̪̪͔͓̪̱̝͖͛̏̏̓̕͡.̨̞͕̙͍͈̮͔̪̓̓̍̃̌̕̕͞.̡̛͍̟̼̜̈̏̔̎̆̌͗͘**  
.

The demon crooned regretfully, tightening it's hand around her throat and crushing her windpipe. Rin gagged and gasped for air that she couldn't take in.

.  
 **T̵͙̞͖̠̳̑͌̒̒̈́͢ḩ̨͔̘̖̦͎̦̓͛̍̿̃͑͋̕͟į̹̙̞͈͍̺̜̲́̑̍̒̍̕͝͡ş͕͙̟͎̣̖̤̠̻͛͐͋̐͠ ï̛͍̯͕̳̬͂̉͋̿s̯͙͎̖͍̼̞̬͗̏͗̾͜͢͝ ţ͔̥͉͚͊͑̑͐͘͞h̶̹̪̲̙̩̹̘͎̍̈́̽͂̾͟è̹̠̣͓̘̌͒̒̈̀̚͜͠ b̸̡̺̣͕̝̰͂̂̑̑͑͆̒͘͘͢͠ͅį̴̣̖͙̼̺̄̿̍̈́̏͘͟͞d̛̬̠̯̗̄͌̂̑̕͞͠ͅd̡̖͓͇͉̼̳̬̃̏͊̿͘͘ǐ̵̛̼̥̖̱̦̗̺̞̈̈́͠ͅņ̴̛͈͉̠̪̞͉͑̉̀͛͠g͖̳̣̫̞͚͗͌̄͘͟͟͞.̶̨̞̯̯̣̣͗̐͂͟͡͠.̨̢͙̭̰̖͕̒̔̂̈́͑̈̅̍͢.̨͍͇͓͔͉̬̩̃̎̀̅̃̀͆̃̽͢͝.̩̟͖̠͈̗̩͙̂͌͒̒̅ͅȍ̸̢̻͍̫̣̲̬̲̾̾̇̒̔̿̒̓͝f̶̛̤͔͓͓͉͆̐͊̄̓͡ m͔͚̩̖͊̽̏̓͐̈̓͞ͅy̢̧̱̝̳͖͔̣͖̑͂̽̓**

  
**M̹̞̰̬̫̑̈̈̔̓̕͡͠ǟ̸͖͔̥͙̱̇̕͞s̴͖̥̹͕̅͊̄̄̋̓͘͜͢͞͝t̢͇̼̹̬͌̅̎̒̍̄̎͡͠͞ė̛̤̖̗͍̭̰͇͋̆̓̓͢͞r̸̟͍̰͍̳͚̒́͑̐̌͟.̵̤͍͕̹̦̙̗̫̈́̾̎̒̈́͘̚͠.̸̻̱̻̰̻̝̥͖̿̆̅̽̔̿̏̑͜͡.̸͓̘͚̥͎̟͔͔̝͉̄̊͛̋͠.̷̢̘̦̗͉̆̓́̔͛̄̄͟͡͞ͅ**  
.

_Satan? But I thought he wanted to bring me home? Why would he want me dead? So no one else could use me?_

Rin was at her limit. She grasped at the tile around her before finally reaching Kurikara with her fingertips. She tried to grab it, but it was hopeless. Black tinged the edge of her vision and closed in fast. She was sure her face was purple by now. Rin couldn't pull Kurikara to her. She could hear Rodan's angry panicked screeching and assumed the poor demon was trying to pull the Nabarius off of her. Distress came off of the familiar in waves.

Finally, Rin blacked out, the gurgled apologies of the Nabarius and Rodan's cries echoing off the shower tiles in her ears.

§~•~§~•~§

Well, they didn't run to the girls bathroom for a peek, but rather because of the screaming.

Yukio ran in, guns blazing(literally). He shot at the demon pinning his sister to the shower floor and it ran, escaping through the window. The teacher ran to his sister immediately to check her pulse once he noticed she wasn't moving. He sighed in relief when he found one and hugged her to him. Suguro felt awkward witnessing the moment of vulnerability. It was also a shock to see Rin in only her panties with her long hair covering her bare chest. Suguro took off his blazer and threw it to the teacher before averting his eyes again. Yukio nodded to him gratefully.

Kamiki was sitting closer to the entrance by the lockers worrying over Paku while Shiemi applied Aloe to her burns. Kamiki was only in her undergarments and Suguro averted his eyes respectfully, turning Shima's head away as well when the pervert didn't look away.

"Moriyama, is Paku okay?" Yukio called to the blonde. "I put Aloe on her burns!" The girl told him. He nodded approvingly. "Good job! You'll make a promising Doctor." 

"Suguro!" Yukio called him next. The teen looked up. "Take my sister to her room. It's on the third floor, fifth room on the right. After you set her down, go to the kitchen and wrap some ice in a washcloth and put it around her neck, please." Suguro nodded and took the girl from her brother's arms, holding her bridal style. He pointedly ignored Shima wiggling his eyebrows and smirking knowingly. 

"Somebody kick Shima for me!" He called behind him. Kamiki, now dressed again, gladly kicked the pink haired boy in the balls. Shima collapsed in agony and Konekomeru winced, but didn't argue with the sentiment. Shima needed to learn a lesson or two on being such a perv.

§~•~§~•~§

He did as his teacher asked and when he came back to put ice around Rin's neck, she was blinking blearily up at him. "Hey. You okay?" Suguro asked casually, like he just hadn't carried her mostly-naked to her room. 

She seemed to realize her state of undress and slowly reddened. "Yeah, your brother told me to put this around your neck for the bruising. I'll let you get some clothes on." And after handing her the ice, he left. Suguro never thought he could be that smoothe in a situation like that, but he was proud of himself for not making a fool of himself. And that he was the one that got to carry Rin to her room and see her room and not Shima.

Rin, meanwhile, felt her face burn hotter than Rodan's wings. She'd half-woken up when Suguro was carrying her to her room. He was really strong and solid and she fell back asleep to his warmth and woke up to him above her with ice. And then she'd realized all she had covering her was Suguro's blazer. But Suguro had acted like it was no big deal. He didn't freak out or run out of the room like a bat out of hell. He'd just told her what happened, blushed a little over the Blazer predicament, and left casually. 

_I didn't know he could be that chill. Or that smooth....That fucker finessed me! Without even trying! And I enjoyed it?!_

§~•~§~•~§

Izumo approached Rin the next morning, holding Rin's clothes from the day before. "Thanks for helping me and Paku. And for not asking why I wasn't summoning." She muttered, shoving the clothes into Rin's arms just as she finished brushing her teeth. 

They smelled like softener and Rin grinned. "You washed them! Thanks!" She grinned at the girl. Kamiki was a bitch, but she seemed to have her moments. "Whatever! Don't tell anyone about this!" The tsundere snapped. Rin smirked. "Please. Who would I tell? This is called an act of thankfulness. There's nothing to brag about. This'll stay between us. Promise." Rin stuck her hand out. 

Kamiki considered it for a moment before rolling her eyes and shaking it. "Fine." She grumbled, turning and leaving. 

Rin smiled after her. Maybe she'd be a little nicer after this experience.


	8. Surprise, Get Attacked Brats

Rin laid on her back on the roof, one of the only places she could get peace and quiet. It was nice when her mind was already a mess of questions and no answers. 

The demon from the day before was the same kind of Demon she'd seen both attacking the Monastery that fateful night and summoned by Mr. Nehause. But that ratty old teacher wouldn't do that, would he? Unless he was one of the teachers that knew her secret. Did he have a grudge against Satan? Rin wondered just how many people her father had left behind in his wake to suffer life without their loved ones. She could understand their hatred of the bastard. But hating Rin was like killing the messenger when they brought bad news. She'd done nothing wrong. Why did people want her dead so bad when they learned who her father was? It wouldn't hurt Satan. He didn't care about Rin. 

"Rin." A gentle voice called her as a face appeared above her. 

Instinctively, Rin tried to sit up, but that was a mistake. Her forehead slammed into Shiemi's and they both fell back, groaning. 

"Hey! Don't suddenly pop up over me like that!" Rin cried. "Don't suddenly sit up like that, stupid Rin!" Shiemi whined back. She stood and picked up the basket of sheets she'd carried up there. "What are you doing?" Rin asked. "I was just bringing everyone's sheets up here to dry." The blonde answered.

"Oh. Do you want help?" Rin offered. "No, I'll be fine on my own. Isn't that right, Nii?" She smiled softly at her adorable little familiar, who she was hardly seen without since the Greenman had been summoned the first time in class. 

"Oh. Well, I guess I should go get ready for Cram School then." Rin got up and went downstairs to her room. She suddenly remembered Suguro standing over her in this same room, his solid figure holding her up with no struggle at all as he carried her up several flights of stairs. Her face flushed and she shook her head, trying to dispel the image. If she remembered that every time she came into her room, she'd need a different one just to get dressed. 

And there was the other thing. She'd been mostly naked when he was carrying her. And had he seen her without the Blazer?! God, Rin's mind was a mess of questions about the attack and Ryuji Suguro. What a hassle!

She brushed her hair and very carefully brushed the fur on the end of her tail, detangling all the knots. Rin wrapped her tail in tight coils around her hips under the uniform skirt and pulled her bangs into a ponytail at the back of her head, clipping it there with the hair clip Suguro gave her.

§~•~§~•~§

All during Cram School, Kamiki was completely out of it, obviously not in the right mindset for school. Rin figured she was thinking about Paku.

Finally, in Holy Scripture Recitation, the teacher called on Kamiki and she flunked it and asked the teacher to call on someone else. 

If that woman called on Rin, she'd be screwed. Rin was good at memorizing things through doing them. Memorizing holy texts was not her thing and she honestly didn't even try to anymore. Luckily, the teacher avoided Rin like the plague, so Rin never had to face her scorn when she learned Rin hadn't even _tried_ to memorize a single piece of holy text since the first week of school.

Rin liked to listen to Suguro recite the lines they were supposed to memorize. The way he said them like an enchantment was just so _perfect._ Suguro was made to be an Aria, Rin was sure. His voice was nice to hear when he wasn't being an asshole.

Rin and Shiemi grinned at him from the front row. "That's so cool! You're really lucky with that memory, you know!" Rin cheered. "And you say the words perfectly without even messing up!" Shiemi added. 

Suguro's cheeks burned red and he scratched the back of his head, grinning as he looked away from the two girls almost bashfully. "Aw, don't go fallin' for me now, yeah? Unless you really want to...." He laughed. "Don't fall for him, fall for me!" Shima winked at them. 

Rin rolled her eyes at the pink haired boy. He was charming, but too pervy and annoying for her to deal with. She kept her gaze on Suguro and she smiled when he met her eyes. Suguro froze, eyes widening a bit. Rin looked at him like she was challenging him, her smile turning into a dangerous smirk. He decided he liked that look. He liked Rin's fierceness–especially the way her smirk turned to a near-predatory sideways grin with those sharp fangs. He figured she must have been related to a demon somehow. It would explain the fangs and ears(that he'd only seen twice since her hair hid them most of the time), and how she could summon something like Rodan.

He smirked back, raising a brow. The girl's cheeks tinted pink and she looked away, biting back a wider grin. Suguro felt satisfaction from that little exchange, not even regretting the kind-of flirting with Okumura. 

"It's not that Bon is smart." Konekomeru said. "He just has a talent for memorizing things. It makes bookwork much easier for him."

"Excuse you, that doesn't make me dumb!" Suguro protested. "Is there some sort of trick to memorizing all that so easily?" Shiemi wondered. "A trick? Let's see...." Suguro wracked his brain for anything that could make it easier for the girl when Kamiki opened her big mouth once again. 

"Memorizing things like that is just plain showing off!" Kamiki sneered, flicking her twin tails behind her haughtily. "Sorry, what was that? You're a huge bitch with one friend that left you here alone after you pressured her into being here in the first place?" Suguro said, cocking his head like he didn't hear what she'd said.

"Bon...." Konekomeru pleaded quietly.

"Don't try to turn this around on me, you show-off! I thought you came here with an important ambition to Defeat Satan, not flirt with pretty girls in your classes. If you can even call 'Defeating Satan' an actual ambition. It's more like a wish!" Kamiki snapped back. Rin winced, looking away awkwardly. 

"Wow, big talk from someone who can't even memorize _four lines._ " Suguro shot back. "It's not that I _can't_ memorize them!" Kamiki stood up, almost knocking her chair over behind her. "I just chose not to! Who wants to be an Aria?! They're completely defenseless while reciting and have to rely on the rest of their party to protect them! They're nothing more than baggage! What good are you if you can't even defend yourself?!" She just kept spewing out shit. Could she get her foot any further in her mouth?

"Yeah that's why I'm studying to get a double Meister. Aria and Dragoon so I can recite and not be a burden." Suguro pointed out. He was surprisingly calm during this. Rin thought he would be super pissy and red in the face like he usually was when he argued with her before. She had no idea Suguro was trying to be chill to show Rin he wasn't a total asshat. 

The two ended up meeting right over Rin's desk and she sighed. "Could you guys please fight somewhere else?" She asked. 

"And who are _you_ to shit on other people's dreams anyway?" Suguro demanded. "Oh please! Defeating Satan? How could you expect me to _not_ laugh at a joke like that?!" Kamiki scoffed. This was getting personal even for Rin now and she was two seconds from getting involved herself. 

"What about _you_ then? What's your goal in trying to become an Exorcist? Go on, say it!" Suguro told the sneering girl in front of him. "Goal? I'll have you know that I never tell my personal goals to anyone! Not that I'd expect a Gorilla like _you_ to understand!" She snarked. Suguro looked like he wanted to deck her, but he didn't, clenching his fists at his sides as he glowered at the girl. _Nice self-control there. Color me impressed. Apparently you_ ** _can_** _be civilized even in a bitch fight._

"Alright, this is getting old fast. Why don't you both sit down and ignore each other's existences for the rest of the day?" Rin stood up between them to make a physical barrier between the two.

"Why don't _you_ mind your own business and go back to hitting on Moriyama, you fucking butch?!" Izumo snapped. Rin frowned and grabbed Kamiki by the collar, picking her up off the ground to be eye-to-eye with the taller girl.

"Don't talk to me like you know me. All you do is sit on your throne of bullshit and Ego and judge people. You don't wanna fuck with me because I don't need my fists to make you regret trying it." Rin growled at her. "Pffft, ooh, I'm so scared. What are you gonna do, hit me?" Izumo feigned being scared. Rin chuckled darkly. "Don't tempt me."

"Whatever. You're all bark and no bite! No one in this class has any guts and it's _pathetic!_ " Okay, so Kamiki just didn't know when to stop. _Alright._

"So tell me what right you have to judge us." Rin demanded. Kamiki furrowed her brow, but didn't say anything. Rin shook her slightly. " _Speak, bitch!_ " She ordered. Kamiki stayed silent. 

"That's what I thought." Rin set her back down on the floor. When the girl opened her mouth to retort, Suguro slapped a hand over her mouth. "Kamiki, just go sit down before you get stuck with hospital bills you can't pay for." He told her. He fully believed Rin could beat even him up. Kamiki would be no challenge, even with her familiars. Rodan could eat those Byakko for breakfast.

The girl fumed up at the two taller classmates and Rin was high-fiving Suguro when a chilling voice came from the door. 

Their teacher had arrived. 

§~•~§~•~§

"So," Yukio started. They were all at Rin and Yukio's dorm, sitting in their knees with demon boulders in their laps. Rin was glad she'd been able to discreetly pull her skirt down some and hide her tail in her hair before getting pinned with the rock. That would've hurt like hell! "Have you all had time to reflect on your actions?" 

"I've had time to reflect and still see no problem with my method, if that's what you mean." Rin said, staring her twin dead in the eyes and daring him to oppose her. 

"Rin, please be serious...." Yukio sighed. 

"I _am_ serious. Don't you go and lecture me on how I handled a situation even when I didn't fight. That's contradicting literally everything you and Dad used to tell me. _I_ won't tell you how to discipline your students and _you_ won't tell me how to handle shitty people." She responded. Rin wasn't having it. In her peripheral vision, she saw Suguro look at her appraisingly and sat up a little straighter. 

"You're all here for a reason." Yukio carried on, addressing the whole class now. Rin smirked at not being opposed. Yukio knew how to survive, that was good. Always know when to back down. 

"Yeah, why is collective responsibility the way to go here? We're not a sports team, bro." Rin chimed in again. 

"I'm your teacher, not your brother right now. And because you'll be fighting in teams as Exorcists. And if Miss Kamiki doesn't want to cooperate enough to be in a team, she'll just die out on the battlefield." Yukio said simply. He checked his watch and sighed again. "Well, I have a mission to get to, shouldn't take too long, maybe around three hours. I'll leave you here and hopefully you can get along by the time I'm back. I'll be locking all the exits just in case. We're still investigating last week's attack." 

And with that, Rin's brother left them sitting there with demon boulders that only got heavier in their laps for the next three hours. "God damn, I guess I _do_ have an evil twin...." Rin muttered. Suguro turned his head to look at her. "Are you and that teacher really related?"

"I swear he used to be a nice guy, but at some point, he must have turned to the dark side when I wasn't looking. Or the authority a teacher holds has gone to his head after not being allowed to argue with me for fifteen years because he wanted to be the bigger person and now he's seeking revenge." She told him honestly. 

"Well we wouldn't have to see that side of him if _someone_ could keep their mouth shut." Suguro grumbled, annoyed. "Y'know, I'm just gonna scoot back because I'm two seconds from giving both of you black eyes." Rin sighed, shuffling back on her knees

"Bon...." Shima warned. 

"Says the brute who was manhandling me by the chest back there!" Kamiki snapped at her. " _What_ chest?" Rin snapped back immediately. Kamiki's face quickly turned red in embarrassment and she tossed her twin tails behind her shoulders, getting ready to argue more. 

  
" _What,_ Kamiki?! What could you possibly say that will hurt any of us?! You're just a huge bitch who thinks she's the Queen! You're anything _but_ that! You came from some Shrine somewhere outside of Tokyo with your best friend who you never listen to even when she's trying to help you! Paku _obviously_ didn't want to be an Exorcist, but she came to Cram School for _you!_ And somehow, you've made a bigger ass of yourself in a _week_ than Suguro could in two months! You have no friends in the one category of your life that you need teamwork for! So why don't you shut up and stop spewing shit from your mouth for once?!" Everyone sat in stunned silence.

"If Suguro wants to start shit, _you_ don't respond and instead, be the bigger person! You don't try to out-bitch him! If you could just learn to not respond to his digs at you, than your dick is automatically bigger than his and you can move on with life!" Rin finished.

"You're not gonna say anything about that, Bon?" Shima wondered quietly. The teen shrugged. "Eh, she's right, no point in trying. I could argue with Kamiki all day, but I'm not getting into it after watching Okumura get bitten by a Leaper and not having her body snapped in half. And she can lift Kamiki off her feet and just hold her there. _Not worth it._ " He conceded. "Oh nice, you're learning." Shima noticed.

"Weren't we told to cool off our heads a little?" Konekomeru recalled feebly.

And then the lights went out. Rin wasn't scared of the dark, but when she tried to stand up and get into a defensive stance immediately, her bariyon dropped onto her foot and she cried out in pain. She lost her balance and fell onto someone, who tried to catch her and they both went down. Now Rin was scared of getting stepped on by the others. 

Finally, Shima shed some light on the situation with his phone. Kamiki and Konekomeru followed his example and Rin found she was quite literally on top of Suguro. "Sorry." She muttered, giving an embarrassed laugh. Suguro looked both amused and also embarrassed and pulled her up to her feet with him. He kept his hand clasped around here for a moment longer before Konekomeru noted that the lights were on in the rest of the school outside the window. They both looked away at the rest of the school, so far away from them.

"So, a power outage? It's an old building, but that's never happened before...." Rin mused.

"Let's check the hallway." Shima suggested. "It's like a test of courage!" He made his way to the door and opened it, peering out into the hallway. But there seemed to be a demon blocking his view and also absolutely murdering his sense of smell with it's stench. 

  
"Shima, get back!" Rin lunged forward and yanked him back just before the thing burst into the room. It's stitched together face bulged before bursting open and spraying them all with black goo. Rin threw Shima away from her and to the floor so he wouldn't get hit. She'd also stepped in front of Izumo and blocked the stuff from hitting her successfully. In the end, Rin, Shiemi, Konekomeru, and Suguro who got splattered with the black substance. Some landed in her right eye and she clenched it shut, hoping tears would flush it out.

"Is everyone okay?" Suguro asked, looking around. Rin nodded and affirmatives came from the rest of the class. "Good, because that thing is coming right for us!" Shima pointed out. Rin didn't even think-she charged the thing and batted at it with her sword a few times before leaping back to avoid a swipe.

Before the demon could advance on them or Rin could charge it again, Shiemi's familiar Nii grew a _whole goddamn tree_ and forced the Demon back out the door. 

Rin was about to ask Suguro about a ghoul's fatal verse(because if anyone knew it, it would be him)when a wave of dizziness passed over her and she stumbled, falling to a knee. Suguro hunched over, groaning. Shiemi was still sitting on the ground, but her face was going pale and Konekomeru leaned heavily on Shima.

"Huh? What's wrong, guys?" Shima asked frantically. Rin swallowed bile that rose in her throat and pushed herself back up to her feet. "It's the effects of that liquid the ghoul just sprayed at us." Kamiki told them. She then rounded on Rin. "Why did you block me off?" She demanded. "I didn't know if it would burn you like Paku and you have familiars that could fight that thing. If the rest of us are down, you can call on them and Shima can fight it with his spear. I couldn't block anyone else off, unfortunately." Rin explained. 

  
She turned to Suguro. "Do you know that thing's fatal verse?" She wondered. "I don't remember exactly which verse, but I know it's in the Gospel of John. I've memorized the whole book, but it'll take a while to recite the whole thing and we don't have that kind of time even if Kamiki and and Shima defend me. It'll start coming after me as soon as I start reciting and I don't think Moriyama has that kind of time either." He told her. Rin nodded. She looked back at the ghoul through the tree branches and blanched.

"There's another one!" She pointed. Suguro cursed. "Alright, gimme a minute, I can think of something." Rin muttered, thinking hard.

"Ah, before you do, I know the first ten chapters of John. I could recite the first half and Bon could do the second half." Konekomeru piped up. Rin nodded. "Okay. Okay, I can lure at least one away if I run out of the room." Her eyes flicked to the window. "Or if I climbed out......" She thought more before settling on a decent plan.

"Alright, here's the plan! Suguro and Koneko, you guys recite until you get to the Fatal verse of this thing. I'm going to summon Rodan and get him to lead them away down the corridor. I'll climb down to the first floor and turn the lights back on. If one or both of them stay here and those two haven't reached the Fatal verse yet, I need Kamiki and Shima to play defense until they do. That's the best I can do." She decided. 

"That sounds like the best plan we can make, so I'm down." Suguro sat down on the floor criss-cross and Konekomeru followed suit. Rin nodded. "Who said I agreed to this?!" Kamiki shrieked. "We're just Pages! How could we win against these demons?!" 

Rin grabbed her by the shoulders and made the girl look at her. "Kamiki, we are all going to die if we don't do something. We don't have to be friends, but you can at least help us with that. And if you don't want to play defense, then I'll just throw you to those ghouls to buy us time. Got it?" She said sternly. "Oof, that's stone cold." Shima muttered under his breath.

"Ugh, fine!" The girl pulled out her summoning papers and watched the ghouls. Rin pulled her own summoning papers out and pricked her thumb on a fang, smearing her blood across the circle. She murmured the fire demon's chant and in a burst of flames, Rodan was there. "Hey buddy! Wow, you've gotten even bigger! Hey, you see those ghouls? I need you to lead at least one away. Take it downstairs to the second floor and keep it there however you need to. Okay?" Rodan gave an affirmative squawk and Rin nodded at him. "And be careful!" She called after him.

Rin walked over to the window and opened it. The dorm had a total of five floors and an accessable roof. They were on the fourth floor, so she'd have to climb quite a ways down. Luckily, Rin was sturdy and could take the fall if she slipped from this height. And she had plenty of experience scaling buildings. Shiro grounding her and then going out to train Yukio how to kill demons let her sneak out of her window on the second floor in the time between when Shiro left and one of the clergymen came to check on her. Every time, she'd leave at a different point in the day to throw them off until they gave up on enforcing her punishments. And Rin had practically taught herself some serious parkour running away from people who wanted to fight her or get back at her for beating them the first time around. She'd scales buildings taller than the Dorm up and down no sweat before. 

"Wait, aren't we on the fourth floor?" Shima recalled. "Yeah, but I'm good at climbing buildings. I'll be fine, pay attention to the ghouls!" She ordered him. And when they looked away, she dropped to a third floor windowsill, catching the protruding sill easily. 

She looked down and dropped to a second floor sill. Her reflexes, senses, durability, endurance, and strength were all super enhanced now and it was _not_ helping her with her issues of discarding rules and getting into shenanigans she had no business getting into. 

  
Focus! I can't be thinking about breaking into Mephisto's mansion right now, I need to get the lights up and get back up there to help my friends!

  
Rin dropped to the ground with a roll and popped up,climbing in through a window she forced open.

  
Rin knew she'd seen the switchboard somewhere around the left side of the first floor. She peeked in rooms, taking inventory as fast as she could and listening for anything trying to creep up on her. There might have been other ghouls they didn't know about.

Finally, Rin found the switchboard . Just like she'd thought, the breaker had been tripped. What was wired was that all of them were off. Annoyingly, all of the labels were worn away, so she had no idea which one was where her friends were. Rin started flipping on switches only to be yanked away from the board violently and slammed into a wall. She groaned and got up, vision swimming. Her right eye was barely staying open, waterings me probably very red and puffy. That demon's goo must have infected her or something. 

She saw another Nabarius and growled, flaring blue flames. "Don't get in my way!" They played a game of hit and run for a few minutes before Rin finally managed to make it back to the switchboard and flip on a few more, desperately hoping one of them was where her friends were. 

She heard agitated squawking and in trotted the other Nabarius, Rodan clutched in one of it's hands. "Rodan!" Rin blasted blue flames at the Nabarius. It let go of the familiar and hissed as it escaped the fire with a few burns. Rodan fluttered to Rin, slowly descending until he hooked onto her back under her hair and gave a tired coo. "Aw, it's okay buddy. You kept it away from my friends, you did a great job! Now I can handle this." She sympathized.

She turned back to the two Nabarius and pulled Kurikara, blue flames covering her from head to toe. Flickering blue horns sputtered to life on her head and her tail unwinded itself, the end flaming. Her ears lengthened and her fangs did too. She knew her eyes were now warped with a red slitted pupil. 

"That's right." A familiar scratchy voice sounded from the shadows behind her. "Those are the flames I wanted to see. Those bright blue flames." Rin spun around, a snarl already on her face, to see Mr. Nehaus behind the ghouls. "I figured you wouldn't use your flames in front of the others, so I lured you out here. Rin Okumura, daughter of Satan." He said it like he was a movie villain. Did this guy imagine he was some supervillain in the Marvel movies or some shit?

"Man, stop pretending you're a supervillain. You just look really stupid." Nehause was stunned. "I don't need you to tell me my name or who my sperm donor is, I know that already. In fact, pretty much everywhere I go, people automatically assume I'm a demon anyway. You're not special in the fact that you know who gave me this unfortunate existence." Nehause looked like he'd forgotten what his lines were, so Rin had just kept talking. 

"Here, I'll help you remember your lines, Macbeth. A few days ago and today's attacks-they were both you?" Rin assumed.

"Well aren't you a smartass?" Nehause muttered irritatedly. "Indeed they were." He conceded. "But enough talk. I want to see more of those flames!" Rin obliged him by slicing and dicing the two Nabarius and burning the remains with her flames.

  
When she turned back around, Nehause was gone. Rin made her way to the breaker box and turned the rest of them on again. She sheathed her sword and the flames disappeared. Then, she tore her summoning paper to let Rodan rest and sprinted up the stairs to her friends, making sure to wrap her tail back up in her hair before she got there. It seemed they defeated their Nabarius and were all okay aside from minor injuries. The worse case was Shiemi, who was passed out on the floor with a concerned Kamiki hovering over her.

"I'm dead, I'm dead...." Suguro gasped from the floor, looking like he was in shock. He had small scrapes around his face and Rin winced. Did the thing grab him by the face? It's claws must have scraped him.

"Hey!" Rin greeted, announcing her presence. "Looks like you guys are all okay! Good job!" She cheered, grinning wide. "What happened to the Nabarius that your familiar was leading away?" Konekomeru wondered. "Ah, it caught him and found me at the breaker box. I had to hurt it to get Rodan free. Motherfucker yanked me away by my hair, so it took me a bit to get all the lights. The labels are all faded too, ugh. When did the lights come on in here?" She explained. 

"A few minutes ago. Bon chanted its fatal verse right as it grabbed him once it got rid of Kamiki's byakko and threw Shima to the side." Konekomeru told her. Rin winced. "Sorry, I was trying to do it as fast as I could." She sighed. 

"I can't believe you climbed down four stories, defeated a demon, and turned the lights on to give us extra time. All on your own. How did you kill it?" Kamiki asked. "With my sword, _duh._ " Rin answered the stupid question with a stupid answer. No brainier. 

"How?" Suguro repeated the question, now recovered from his near-heart attack. "Do you need a three thousand word essay on how to stab something with a sword, Rooster?" Rin raised an eyebrow at him. "Fair enough. Those things were fast, though. But I guess if you can climb down four stories without slipping and falling, than I could believe you've got good balance. And I've seen you run, you're pretty damn fast." Suguro shrugged. 

He walked up to her and stared at her intently. Specifically, her face. "Do you need something?" Rin asked. "Your eye got that black liquid sprayed into it. It looks pretty bad. Can you see out of it?" Suguro asked by way of explanation. Rin shook her head. "No, I've had to keep it closed since halfway through the fight with the Nabarius. I only managed to dodge because my reflexes are really good." She admitted. 

"Huh. Well, we'll call your brother again to see if he picks up this time. Hopefully it doesn't cause permanant damage to your sight in that eye." The teen murmured, brushing her bangs, which had gotten loose during the fight, away from said eye. His fingers brushed her cheek for just a second and Rin noticed Suguro was both really warm and really close. "And next time, don't use your own body as a shield. It's noble, but destroying yourself for others won't help you when you're fighting demons. Especially when you're one of the strongest fighters. Okay?" He said softly. She blinked, then nodded, pink tinting her cheeks at the unexpected gentleness from the brash boy. Suguro gave her a rare smile and stepped away to give her space. 

"What on God's green Earth did you do?!" Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Or rather, the devil's son in this instance. Yukio gaped at them, all looking a little worse for wear. 

And with him was Mr. Neuhaus, the supervillain wannabe that attacked children with mid-class demons just to be petty because he hated Satan. This was gonna get awkward real fast.....


	9. Bitterness Is Only Good In Coffee

Yukio surveyed the damage around the room and on the students before his eyes found Suguro standing very close to his sister. He scowled and Suguro stepped back hastily.

Rin was about to pull her brother outside the room and tell him about Nehause when something slammed into her from behind and she was roughly pushed to the floor.

"Oh my. Excuse me~!" The lilting voice that belonged to the Headmaster of True Cross Academy chuckled. Rin looked up to see her attacker hanging from the ledge of a missing ceiling panel. "You have _two seconds_ to get down from there and apologize for trying to break my back, asshole." She growled, getting to her feet unsteadily. The man dropped to the floor with a bow.

"My apologies, dear. Though, you _were_ standing in the _one_ place I planned to enter from." He apologized with a knowing grin. Rin tried to charge him, but Suguro caught her and wrapped his arms around her, effectively pinning her arms to her side.

"Nope, fighting the Headmaster is bad, that'll hurt you." He muttered to her quietly. Rin could break free if she wanted and he knew it, but she only sighed and nodded reluctantly. Suguro let her go, but stood close to her just in case.

"Alright, thank you for all your hard work, Pages!" Mephisto moved on before she could try to attack him again.

"Holy shit, isn't that the chairman?!" Shima yelped. "What's he doing here?" Konekomeru wondered.

"Of course there is a reason why I, the Headmaster of this _wonderful_ school and Director of the Japan Branch of the Knights of the True Cross, would allow the invasion of upper-class demons!" Mephisto claimed, gesturing grandly. The teenagers all looked back with nonplussed expressions. Right on cue, instructors popped out of the ceiling panels, floorboards, and a closet. "These Doctors will treat everyone's wounds." Mephisto informed them. The Pages gaped at him in disbelief. "This punishment also served a purpose as the surprise ExWire Authorization Exam!" Rin was giving him a withering glare, but he he carried on with his speech, flaring his cape flamboyantly. She wanted to rip it off and strangle him with it.

"While you were all left alone in class, bound to argue at some point if we left you there long enough, I posted these teachers everywhere to act as judges. We tested all of you with a fine-toothed comb. Afterwards I shall read the teachers reports and make my final decision about who passed the exam. Please look forward to tomorrow's announcement!" He finished with a wink and a grin.

  
Rin stood there for a minute before heaving a heavy sigh and sitting on the floor, head between her knees. "You okay?" Suguro asked, crouching down next to her. "I'm trying _so hard_ not to punch his lights out. He's right there and I know for a _fact_ I could break his jaw to keep him from spouting his fancy bullshit." She groaned. "It's not worth the jail time, Okumura." He told her sympathetically, patting her on the shoulder. "I'm trying to convince myself of that too. Thanks." She muttered, rubbing at the eye that got shot with the demon goo. Her hand came back with blood and black ooze and she contemplated it fit a minute. "Oh. Shit."

She'd forgotten how shitty she was feeling. But now, it came back full force and punched her in the gut. Rin's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed. Suguro caught her in surprise and the last thing she heard was Yukio shouting her name.

§~•~§~•~§

"I can't believe it!" Rin groaned. "That bastard tricked us!" They all sat in a sick ward, IV's hooked up to them and bandages over their wounds. Rin had one over her eye after they'd purified it somehow with eyedrops Yukio made from materials that wouldn't kill her. Honestly, if he'd wanted her gone, he could've just put some Holy Water eyedrops in her eye and been done with it as her brain desintegrated, so Rin guessed Yukio _did_ care for her to some extent.

Suguro sat at the end of Rin's bed, Kamiki, Shima, Takara, and Yamada all sat in chairs, Shiemi laid in a cot, and Konekomeru sat on her cot. She'd used up a lot of stamina keeping that tree in place to occupy the demons.

They talked about whether they'd passed or not. Rin deduced Shiemi definitely passed and Konekomeru said she would too for coming up with a plan so fast. Kamiki wondered if she'd made it, but Suguro pointed out that Yamada and Takara would be the ones to fail, if anything.

"And for the record, that was pretty quick thinking. It was a solid plan to work with what we had. Good job, Okumura." He told her, turning away as his cheeks burned. "Thanks." She beamed at him. Rin had no idea when he'd decided to be nice to her, but she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Shiemi woke up then, asking what had happened. They explained about the whole punishment being a ruse to see if they could pass to ExWire level. She fretted, but Rin told her not to worry. "Don't worry about it. I might get points docked for basically abandoning you guys...." Rin shrugged.

"Again, those two did literally nothing, you'll be fine." Suguro reminded them. The two in question didn't seem to be listening or care at all. "Got anything to say for yourselves?" He demanded.

The one in the sweatshirt only commented on his game play. "Alright, I just got the fang of the night dragon! Equipping, equipping...."

The boy with the puppet, or rather the puppet, snapped at them. "Shut up, you stupid brats! There's nothing I have to say to you!"

While Suguro growled menacingly at them, Rin gave the ratty thing a glare of her own. "No need to get snippy, _Raggedy Ann!_ After sitting on your ass the whole time, I think you should expect a little slander from the people that actually _tried._ " She pointed out.

The rabbit seemed to stare at her for a long moment before shrugging. "I like you. You don't take shit." The puppet admitted. Rin spluttered at the weird comment until Konekomeru asked her a question.

"Oh yeah, Rin?" He called. "How did you manage to beat that other ghoul?"

  
"I stabbed that fucker until he had more holes in him than a pincushion. Took a lot of running and jumping." She explained easily. It wasn't untrue, just not the whole truth. "I don't doubt you could do it, with that _amazing_ flexibity~" Shima put in, winking at Rin, who rolled her good eye. "Thanks, I guess."

"You're already on your way to becoming a great Knight! I hope I can see you fight one day, though. We always miss that chance." The bald boy mused. "Yeah," Shima agreed. "And it's kinda ironic, huh?"

"How?" Rin asked, raising a brow at him.

"You're training to become a Knight, but you look like a princess. Knights usually save princesses in stories." He answered. Rin snorted. "Yeah, well, _this_ princess saved herself." She sighed, looking at her sword with an indiscernible expression. If Shima wasn't mistaken, he'd say the look was almost sad. Tired. Resigned.

Hours later, everyone else was gone and Rin was dead asleep. She was alone in the dorm and under any other circumstances, she would've felt too uncomfortable to fall asleep like that, but she was so exhausted from the day's ordeals that she was asleep the instant her head hit the pillow.

  
§~•~§~•~§

A while later, Rin woke up. She did know why until she realized that there was movement near her room, out in the hallway.

She slid out of her bed as silently as possible, grabbing the magic circle paper she kept under her pillow, along with Kurikara. She was only in a ratty old shirt and her underwear, but Rin figured her appearance might be a good distraction while she took care of the intruder.

Rin made her way to the door, avoiding the creaky spots of her floor. She turned the knob silently and peeked out just barely. A familiar form was ambling through the hall a little clumsily. Rin would bet it was from the blood loss the man subjected himself to almost daily to summon his familiars. She shook her head. _Some people just don't know when to quit._

Rin stepped away from the door and nicked her thumb on her fang, smearing it across the summoning circle as she murmured Rodan's chant quietly. Obeying her wishes, Rodan had come as quietly as he could, flames erupting in front of her and dying out almost immediately. Rodan was bigger every time she summoned him. He was now big enough to cover her whole chest with his body, wings included.

"Go get him, buddy. If you need help, screech and I'll back you up." She whispered. He nuzzled her cheek with his beak before charging out the door right into Mr. Nehause. The man cried out in surprise.

Rodan carved his face, neck, and hands up pretty good with his sharp talons, pulling and yanking at the man's unruly Shoulder-length hair with his beak. Basically harassing a man who looked homeless and acted like a creep.

Nehause was a trained Exorcist though. He summoned a Nabarius to aid him and managed to fend off Rodan to do so. The familiar kept assaulting him, even tearing off the eyepatch to reveal scarred skin where an eye used to be. It looked like his face had been partially melted and Rin could guess why Nehause was coming after her so persistently.

Rodan got outnumbered and out-sized when Nehause summoned a second Nabarius. He screeched just like Rin told him.and she charged out, ducking under the long swinging limbs of the two Nabarius and pulling her sword in an arc that would leave a clean cut on Nehause's cheek. Instead of stopping the arc, she kept going, spinning full circle to slice through one Nabarius and dispatch it so her familiar could fight the first one-on-one.

She turned back to Nehause, who was incredibly shocked at the sudden turn of events. He got over said shock quickly and pulled his own sword. He swung at Rin and she blocked with her blade, letting flames crawl down the blade toward Nehause's. The way he pulled back quickly confirmed that that method was the way to keep injuries to a minimum. Rin could barely fight properly with a sword. Nehause was a trained Exorcist in both Knight and Tamer. He had more experience and control over his abilities than she did. If Rin slipped up, she could set the whole place on fire.

She waited, biding her time as they exchanged blows with their blades, Rin barely partying some and getting cut other times, until she saw an opportunity and slipped last Nehause. She ran for the stairs, heading for the roof. Nehause followed, thankfully.

Once on the roof, they had much more space to fight. Rin was clumsy with her sword, but her enhanced reflexes saved her. She really needed to find someone to teach her how to fight with this thing or she'd have to teach herself at some point. Kurikara was Rin's main offensive weapon and if she couldn't fight with it, she'd be dead soon. Nehause wasn't the only person who hated her for her father's deeds and he sure as hell wasn't gonna be the last person to come after her like this.

  
Nehause chucked a grenade at her and she didn't have enough time to get away before she was _fine-misted_ with water. But it wasn't just any water. It was Holy Water. And boy, did it burn like a motherfucker!

  
Rin gritted her teeth, crying out at the sting of the water and quickly retreating to the other side of the roof. If it had been a direct spray, it would've hurt much more. "Ah, so you really are just a demon hiding in human skin. A wolf in sheep's clothing." Nehause mused.

Rin was tired and keeping Rodan present while fighting with a sword she wasn't trained with were taking all her energy. Her flames wanted to burst free, but she had to only let out a small amount since she hadn't learned to control the fire that well yet. Rin had a long way to go if she wanted to defeat Satan and this fight was just rubbing that fact in. She was running out of patience for this fight.

Finally, before she could run the man through with her blade, he summoned some freaky demon hands and managed to stab her through with one. She yelled at the hand punching through her body and making a huge hole in her liver. Rin hunched forward, puking all over said demon hand and the rooftop. Blood came out with her dinner and she wheezed. The hand was just staying there and it was the most uncomfortable thing Rin had ever felt, along with the most painful.

She swung her sword and cut the hand off from Nehause, stumbling away some. Before the man could do anything else, gunshots rang out and Rin collapsed in relief, avoiding falling in her own vomit. Yukio was finally here to save the day. Rin figured that meant that the Nabarius inside should have been taken care of and she shakily pulled out her magic circle, ripping the paper. It soaked with blood from the hand she'd been holding over the wounds in her body. The hand was still there, stemming most of the blood flow from the area. Rin's healing was fast, but she didn't want to pull out the thing stopping her from bleeding out until a Doctor was around.

She heard Yukio talking to Nehause before the boy appeared over her. "I'm gonna have to take this out and it's gonna hurt a lot, but don't struggle. That'll make it worse." He instructed her. Rin nodded and wished she had something to hold onto. She couldn't hold Yukio's hand, she'd crush it. She was afraid of crushing Kurikara too, so she put it down next to her.

Rin instead clenched her fists as Yukio counted to three under his breath before pulling out the demon hand swiftly. Rin shouted a curse to the sky and laid there trying to remember how to breathe properly as her body knitted itself together. Her nails dug do hard into her palms that they bled. In five minutes, she was fine. Only phantom pain remained and she laid there in shock, processing that her body was okay now.

"Wow." She mumbled. "Guess I really am a monster, huh....." The thought wasn't a comforting one. Yukio at least looked like he felt bad for her when she said the words. He helped her stand up and led her back to her room before going to his own.

Rin didn't sleep for the rest of the night.


	10. One Familiar, Two Familiar

"So hot...." Rin groaned as she finally made it back to the dorm from shopping for popsicles and water for Yukio. He'd asked for mineral water, but A) it was more expensive than regular water, B) they were broke, and C) Yukio didn't need fancy water to live so he could just deal with it. She dropped his water off to him in his room, ignoring his glare as she opened a popsicle and sighed if relief when it touched her tongue she she flipped down on her bed. She still had homework to do, but she could do it tomorrow. For now, she focused on her popsicle. The Summer heat was unbearable, the humidity made it worse, and the Dorm didn't have air conditioning for some reason.

Rin preferred Winter because then she could at least layer on clothes all she wanted and be comfortable. In the Summer, you could only take off so many layers before the situation turned into a matter of public indecency. Rin was already only wearing a low-cut sports bra, short shorts, and sandals. Her hair was up in two buns and her tail was wrapped in her belt loops. Rin was finding out if people would notice when she went out, but as long as she braided the fluff at the end and tucked it under the first loops of the tail, no one even spared her a glance.

  
Now that she was at the dorm, though, she could uncoil it and let it loose. She sighed in relief as the tail unwrapped from her belt loops, undoing the braid of fluff and letting the appendage sway in the air beside her as she considered the manga she'd stolen from Yukio.

She'd just started reading when she heard movement from downstairs. Rin was glad for this super hearing, it helped her keep track of Yukio, Rodan when she let him wander around the dorm, and any intruders in the building. She saved her page by folding the corner down(Yukio hated it when she did that) and got up to wander downstairs to see what her brother was up to.

She caught him when he was about to leave the Dorm in full uniform, ring of magic keys out. "Where ya goin?" She asked, casually leaning against the doorway. He considered her before sighing. "I have a mission. Please stay here, sister." Yukio requested. "Why can't I go? I already have some field experience." She asked. "You're only an ExWire Rin, you need a higher rank to perform an Exorcism." Yukio explained patiently, like she was a kid. "Oh. Well, what level are you?" She wondered.

He went back to his desk and pulled out a sheet of laminated paper, handing it her. It had all the ranks of the Order on it. "I'm Intermediate Middle First class." He told her. "Ouch, you're not that high up either. I think you could get higher if you wanted to." Rin noted as she looked at the paper.

"Although, both of your Meisters are long range. Doctors heal and Dragoons use firearms, which is long-distance combat. You'd do good with Aria if you wanna stay long- range. I wonder if something more close range or energy-consuming like Knight and Tamer automatically get higher ranks or if it just depends on the person? Cause Suguro is pretty studious, I feel like he'd start out at a good rank, but he's gonna be an Aria Dragoon...." Rin muttered thoughtfully. She potted Paladin and figured that would be what she needed to defeat Satan, if not something powerful enough to surpass even these ranks.

"It'll take a lot of training to get to Paladin, huh?" She sighed. Yukio looked affronted, like he hadn't been expecting the speculation on ranks or her declaration of wanting to be Paladin.

"Paladin is the title that is only ever awarded to one person at a time-the strongest Exorcist in the world." Yukio told her carefully. "It's not given to just anyone, Rin."

"Are you trying to tell me something in particular or is that tone just to make sure I get the point?" Rin questioned suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. "You often disregard orders and act on your own." Okay, that's fair. "Point taken." She muttered.

"You've already got enough on your plate just trying pass regular school and Cram School. Worry about those before thinking about what rank you want to shoot for. You can start low and make your way up the ladder." Yukio advised. Rin didn't miss the small underlying note in his voice when he mentioned her trouble with school. He was essentially calling her dumb. Asshole. Rin figured Yukio would never see her as mature if she didn't stop responding to jabs at her, no matter how mean, so she ignored it. She didn't want him to have the satisfaction of her proving him right by snapping at him.

"Your fighting style also relies too much on Satan's power. You've been better at not immediately drawing your sword when things get bad, instead using your familiar, but when you do draw your sword, you tend to go a little overboard with the flames in open space. You could probably see you and Nehause fighting from the School, sister. And your self-destructive tendency to use your own body as a shield will eventually kill you, no matter how fast your healing is."

"I _cannot_ believe you're actually preaching to me. I wish I'd recorded that to show Dad when he wakes up." Rin snorted. "I told you that you'd end up just like that Old Fart, didn't I?" Yukio's eye twitched and his fists clenched. Rin wondered if he'd finally punch her, tail swaying behind her in anticipation. 

"I'm saying this for your benefit! When are you going to get out of this rebellious phase of yours and actually grow up?!" Yukio snapped. _There it is,_ Rin mused. "If you don't learn how to fight without destroying things around you and getting yourself badly hurt, how will you ever even rank as an Exorcist?!" 

Rin frowned. "Hey, dumbass? _I don't have a teacher!!_ " She reminded him.

"I have to either find someone to train me with this stupid sword or I'll train myself, but I have to get in a good place in school and settle into a routine before any of that comes along! I just got thrown into the middle of a shitstorm and not even a full month in, I've already been attacked _twice!_ Why don't you try to pay attention to me as my guard more often instead of trying to pretend I don't exist and don't need help?! If you couldn't handle the _fifty fucking jobs_ you picked up, you _shouldn't have even tried!_ " She was so tired of everything being a mess and Yukio acting like it was her fault! All she had to do was exist and people gave her shit for it! "Why don't _you_ grow up and do what you promised our comatose father in the hospital?! Help me!!" 

"Rin, if you can't figure out problems yourself at this age, why did you even try to become an Exorcist? Stop PMSing and get yourself together. How did you think you'd accomplish becoming an Exorcist?" Yukio sighed, like he was tired of this argument. He didn't get to be tired of it! He was reason for it!

"Oh, I don't know, maybe with some _help from my_ _ **brother?!**_ " She pointed out. "You're supposed to be there for me like I've always been for you! I've spent my _life_ brushing off your shitty attitude towards me for the _two minutes_ a day that you weren't busy or ignoring me like I wasn't worth your time! I hoped you'd finally see that even if you were a shitty brother for the past eight years, I'd still love you, have your back, and give you chance after chance after _chance!_ I hoped you'd realize I was struggling and help me willingly, not because it's what Dad wanted!" She felt her eyes prick and blinked tears back hastily, still glaring at her brother. 

  
Yukio looked back at her in shock, like he didn't expect her to be capable of negative emotions. Maybe be didn't because she had a lot of tolerance for bullshit and generally brushed negative things off. But this was getting old and Rin wasn't having a great time trying to build a new life out of the blue like this.

"What, did you think I was too stupid and oblivious to notice how you felt about me? You know, if Dad prepared _me_ for this like he did for you, we wouldn't _be_ in this mess! But of course, he only ever had time for the _perfect_ child, the easier child that he was willing to deal with! He only wanted to be around his _favorite_ child and ignore his struggling second child who turned out to be a _screw up_ because _no one_ was there! I played what you played, I wore your clothes, I played with your toys and we even shared school books for the longest time, all to make things easier for you guys! I even offered to keep my hair short just so it would be more manageable!" She was shrieking now and the hurt was coming back full force. The hurt she'd kept pushing down every time she had time to think about it.

She went quiet before starting again. "I hoped that if I made things easier for you guys to deal with me, you'd _care._ You'd pay attention to me and love me like everyone loved _you._ That maybe I'd be worth everyone's time and attention and love. Now our Dad is in a coma and I don't even know for sure if I want him to wake up because now, I've once again managed to have everything shitty happen to me and I'm ashamed to show him the absolute _failure_ that my life is."

Tears freely rolled down her cheeks, overflowing when they gathered up too much to blink back anymore. She hated how her voice wavered at the end of her rant. Stay strong, god _damnit,_ why couldn't she stay strong in these situations where she was pouring her heart out so _someone_ would notice her struggling?! She swallowed around the lump in her throat as they stared at each other.

Yukio's expression had changed from shock, to hurt, to horror and now it was conflicted.

"You're gonna be late for your mission." Rin grumbled at last, turning to walk out. To her surprise, Yukio caught her hand and pulled her back. "Rin." He murmured. She didn't want to turn back to look at him, but he called her anyway.

"I....I'm sorry." Rin scoffed and tried to pull away, but he held tight. "I'm serious! I forgot the original reason I even became an Exorcist." He shook his head in dismay. "I was scared of the demons, yes, but I would've been fine just wearing a protection charm. Dad saw an opportunity and I won't defend him, because it was still pretty messed up to raise a child to kill demons. But he told me I could protect you because you weren't normal and bad people would come after you one day when we were older. Looking back on it now, I don't know if he just wanted to have me trained as a contingency plan of some sort if he was ever felled by a demon early, but he said _I_ could be the one to save _you_ one day. I _wanted_ that. I wanted to be the one helping you for once." His voice was soft and his grip had loosened as he spoke. Rin could've left, run away from the words, but she stayed there. She was still too soft on her little brother when it came to second chances. She'd already given him dozens of them, after all.

"I spent all my time training and keeping high grades in everything. But the work consumed me and I forgot the reason I'd started the training. I pushed you away because you were a distraction and I needed to get stronger, to pass to the next rank and learn to fight demons and complete missions without fail. I wanted Father's approval and I always got it. But I got that approval at your expense." Rin's shoulders dropped and her tail was low, just above the floor, like a wilted flower.

" _I'm sorry._ I wanted to protect you, but I ended up hurting you worse than any demons ever could. You care much more about emotional pain than you do physical pain. You can take the physical pain. Emotions are your weakness and also your strength. I didn't even realize how things turned out until you shouted in my face, so I guess that shows _my_ weakness...." He sighed regretfully.

Rin turned around and let him hug her. "You're problem is that you never want to look back to see the things you've done. You're always looking forward, trying to get ahead, trying to be better. But sometimes, you need to look back to the past for longer than a few seconds to analyze a mistake and instead, look at the whole picture. Don't dwell on it, but look at it and figure out if you want things to stay the same as then or if you want them to change. You gotta find the things you want improve or leave the same." Rin told him quietly. Emotions were her strongest subject. If there was a class in school for emotions, Rin would pass it with flying colors. Hell, she'd be in advanced classes!

Yukio's arms tightened around her and she buried her face in his coat. He hadn't hugged her in so long. She hadn't felt so secure, so _safe,_ since they were just little kids with big dreams and wild imaginations. Her tail curled around his leg.

"You're really gonna miss your mission, Yuki." She told him guiltily. He shook his head. "I'm not the only capable Exorcist. They just like my expertise and work ethic." He winked at her when they pulled apart. "I'll let you come along to observe, _no weapons._ Okay?" Yukio said. Rin smiled and nodded, wiping her face of tears and blowing her nose before leaving with her twin.

§~•~§~•~§

  
Yukio flashed his badge at the guard by the caution tape. "Yukio Okumura, Intermediate Middle First Class." 

"We've been waiting for you! Please help us with the situation." The guard requested. He looked at Rin expectantly.

"Rin Okumura, ExWire. I'm just here for observation." Rin said, showing him her ID. 

"She's more of a practical learner. I hope it's not too much trouble." Yukio said. The man shrugged and let the girl in. She cheered and followed her twin to the area of commotion. 

The problem appeared to be a giant raging cat. An giant raging _two-tailed, horned_ cat. Interesting.

Yukio blanched. "That's Kuro! Father's familiar! He guards this entrance! Why's he so angry?" The teen explained, confused. 

**Liars!**

Rin heard the voice in her head and her gaze snapped up to the cat in shock. Rin looked around to see if anyone else reacted, but no one else seemed surprised. Could they hear it too?

"Sister? What's wrong?" Yukio wondered, furrowing his brows. Rin opened her mouth to answer, but the cat screeched again and she winced. 

**You're all liars!**

"Does everyone hear the cat or is it just me?" She asked him. He raised a brow. "All we can hear is angry yowling, if that's what you're asking about." He answered. "No! He's talking, like, with actual words! No one else heard him?" She said. "No one else heard words. Though, this could be something only _you_ can do. You're half-demon, and a high-class demon." Her twin pointed out. Rin nodded in understanding. That made sense. 

"So what is he saying, because we're all in the dark here?" Yukio questioned. Rin snickered. "He's calling you all liars." She responded. He frowned. 

"Hey, when did Kuro start freaking out?" He turned to another Exorcist. "One of the guards let it slip that Fujimoto is in a coma and Kuro got angry because they said they didn't know if he'd recover." 

"Excuse us, but what do you plan to do with Kuro?" Another Exorcist asked Yukio.

"Everything will be fine." Yukio assured them. "We'll deal with him."

" _Oh,_ I don't like the sound of that." Rin winced. Yukio gave her an uncomfortable look as he pulled out a grenade that looked like the one Nehause had thrown at her the night before.

"You're gonna mist him with Holy Water?!" She shrieked. "No, father had this prepared years ago. He said it was just in case Kuro ever got out of control. I don't know what's in it. It might be poison." Yukio looked at the grenade warily. Rin frowned. "That seems cruel. If he tamed Kuro, wouldn't he keep the cat around? Why would he kill Kuro for getting out of control?" She questioned. Yukio shrugged, stepping forward. 

"Wait!" Rin stopped him. "Lemme talk to him." She pleaded. Yukio looked like he was about to object, but Rin cut in. "Dad's not dead and he's healing well. You want him to wake up without his friend around because the cat was upset that his master was hospitalized?" She looked at her twin imploringly, her hand on his over the grenade. Yukio sighed, but nodded. Rin smiled at him. 

She walked forward, past the barricade the Exorcists had created, right up to Kuro. 

**Liars! Shiro is fine! He'll make it! You just don't care about him!**

Kuro raged, destroying another vehicle. Rin ducked as it flew over her head. "Hey, Kuro!" She called, trying for a friendly smile. The cat looked down at her suspiciously. She realized her sword was still across her back and took it off, throwing it to the side, holding her hands up.

"I'm Shiro's daughter! I never got to meet you before!" She told him. 

**Shiro's....daughter? He has a second kitten?**

Kuro cocked his head to the side and Rin grinned. "He took me and my brother in! But listen, he's in a coma! But that's so he can heal! He's healing up really good after an attack! He'll be just fine!" She said. **Shiro won't die?** Kuro sniffed. 

"No! Those guys are just stupid! I visit him once in a while. I can take you to see him!" She offered. Kuro let out a loud wail and shrunk down slowly to the size of a normal cat. His loud wailing turned to upset yowling of a sad cat. Rin opened her arms and Kuro leaped into them, nuzzling her chin affectionately. 

Yukio and the other Exorcists stood in shock at what just happened as she made her way back to them with a sniffling cat sith in her arms. Kuro's two tails wrapped around her wrist while he calmed down.

§~•~§~•~§

Afterward, Kuro sat in Rin's lap on some steps to the guard tower while they waited for Yukio to sort things out with the other Exorcists. 

"It's okay, I would've rampaged too if I were you. I'll take you to see him after this. The doctors had to put him under to let his body heal. He's not as young as he used to be, you know." Rin told the cat. "He fought Satan off of me. That's why he's in a coma. So if you're gonna blame anyone, blame me." She sighed in resignation. Kuro nuzzled her chest, purring as she absently pet him. 

**Instead of letting the Exorcists kill me, you saved me, so I think Shiro was good to save you from Satan.**

"Good work." Yukio complimented her, coming over to sit next to her on the steps. "Well, you've got yourself two familiars now. Are you sure you're not building an army, sister?" Yukio gave her a rare grin. "Nah, I think Kuro should stay with you for backup on missions." She said.

**You have another familiar?**

Rin nodded at the cat. "Yup. He's a fire type. His name is Rodan. I can summon him, if you want?" She offered. Kuro cheered and Rin laughed, pulling out her summoning circle and doing the usual routine. Rodan appeared in a plume of fire, screeching his presence and scaring away a couple Exorcists around them.

"Hey Kuro? Do you think you could ask Rodan why I can't hear him talk?" She requested. The cat then spoke in a familiar language Rin had heard from the Nabarius apologizing for trying to kill her. Rodan screeched back. 

**He didn't think you'd understand our language. Do you?**

"Yes. Why?" Rin wondered curiously. Kuro relayed the words to Rodan, who squeaked excitedly before landing on Rin's head and latching on. Rin winced at the sting in her scalp, but let him stay there.

**Princess, you know our home language?! This is great! We can talk now! Can you speak this language like you understand it?**

Rin frowned and thought about it before giving it a try. 

" _Ngicabanga_ _kanjalo_ _?_ " She tried. Roughly, it translated to 'I think so?'

Yukio almost fell backwards. "Rin! Don't speak the demon language in front of Exorcists!" He hissed, slapping a hand over her mouth. She glared at him and pulled his hand off her face. 

"Fine, jeez! Come on, I promised Kuro I'd take him to see Dad once we were done here." Rin stood up and her brother followed her and her familiars to the hospital. 

"Oh, and one more thing." She spun around and slugged her brother on the jaw, just hard enough to leave a bruise. "Ow! What was that for?!" Yukio demanded. "That comment on PMSing earlier! Quit being a sexist moron! I can be angry any time I want, _not_ just during my time of the month!" She snapped at him. 

"And by the way, I haven't had a time of the month since I unsheathed this sword. My cycle was regular, never missed a w month once it started." She told him. Yukio had a look of horror on his face and she rolled her eyes. "You're a Doctor, you've sat through all the classes, Yukio, don't make that face at me. And before you ask for another punch by asking if I've been with anyone, I'll just tell you that I haven't. No one likes me like that." She said, walking ahead, clearly ending the discussion. 

§~•~§~•~§

"Kuro, you can stay here with him if you want." Rin said softly to the cat resting in Shiro's lap on top of his blanket.

"No, I think Shiro would want me to look out for you and Yukio. Shiro loves you like kittens, so I will too." The cat sith told her, nuzzling Shiro's face one more time before he hopped onto Yukio's shoulder and settled there.

The twins went home with their familiars, determined to fix the mess that had been made by the situation a month ago.


	11. MephyLand AKA Childhood Trauma

"So, how'd you guys do on your first mission?" Rin asked the guys, just to start a conversation to cure the boredom of sitting in silence. It was their first mission as a class and Shiemi and Kamiki were late. 

They had met at a fancy fountain not unlike the one outside the Cram School. Yukio stood off to the side with a file in hand and Yamada and Takara stood away from them in the opposite direction.

The Mephisto Themed amusement park gave Rin the creeps. There were huge gold statues of the Headmaster everywhere, grinning and holding his stupid umbrella, standing on a pedestal. Rin scoffed at the thought. The guy probably held himself on a pedestal above everyone else.

"I had to clean out the Leaper's cage." Konekomeru wrinkled his nose at the memory. "I had to take a sample of bariyoshi to Yunokawa." Suguro answered disappointedly. "I had to carry supplies to Tsubakki." Shima whined. "They weren't even real missions, they were just odd jobs the Exorcists didn't wanna do themselves!"

"What did you expect? It's just like at home-all the adults give the kids the shitty jobs they don't wanna do when we get old enough." Rin snorted. She'd complained about it to Shiro as a kid, but all he'd said was "Children are better seen than heard." And dismissed her to clean the kitchen, the bathroom, and his office.

But this time, Rin got the better end of the deal. "I'm a step ahead of you guys, then. I talked down an angry demon and got another familiar out of it!" She gloated. It felt nice to be the one bragging for once. 

"Pffft, yeah right." Suguro rolled his eyes. "Why don't you summon it, then?" He challenged. "I can't exactly do that. I left him back at the dorms and he's more of an independent familiar." Kuro hadn't been to Gehenna in a long, long time. He liked Assiah better. He was treated better here. 

"You 'left' him at your dorm?" The teen scoffed. "You think I'm lying?" Rin arched a brow, crossing her arms.   
"Ok, this is ridiculous." Shima interrupted. "Aren't the girls really late?"

"Not all of them, but I'll just forget about you saying I'm a guy." Rin pointed out. "That's not what I meant! You are...." His eyes trailed up and down her body and Rin scowled. " _Very_ female."

Rin was about to hop down from the fountain and roundhouse kick him, but Suguro got to him first and swung a nice left hook to catch Shima in the jaw. That would leave a worse bruise than the one Yukio had from her right hook a couple days before! Rin grinned and Suguro looked at her, seemingly for approval. He got it and he smirked, looking pretty proud of himself. 

Rin heard a soft snicker off to the side and saw Yukio biting back a smile behind his clipboard. He seemed to approve of the fighting in class, for once. 

"We're sorry!" Shiemi and Kamiki had finally arrived. "We took a long time!" Rin could see why. Shiemi was in the school uniform. How the hell did she hide that body in a kimono?! Rin had thought she was petit under the kimono, but she was thick, more similar to Rin's body type than Kamiki's. The girl had been very shy when she changed out for P.E., so the most Rin had seen was her regular bras on the bench when she changed them out for sports bras. 

"No kimono?" Rin noticed. "Well, a kimono isn't very practical for missions, so the Director had me provided with a uniform....We're late because Kamiki and Paku were teaching me how to put it on." The blonde explained. Rin hummed. "I thought the Kimono was cute, but this looks good, too." Rin smiled at the girl, who blushed. "Though you could've come to me for help, you know." She added. "Sorry, Kamiki and Paku were closer!" Shiemi apologized. Rin got down from the fountain and slung an arm across Shiemi's shoulders. "That's fine. You look good, so they did a good job." She brushed it off, tucking a stray lock of longer hair behind the girl's ear.

"So I don't look weird?" Shiemi asked shyly, hugging Rin around the waist and pressing herself into Rin to hide her own body.

"Yeah, these uniforms are much easier to do missions in than your kimono. The miniskirt isn't in the way at all either, so they're practical for missions."

Shima was back on his feet in a second to ogle Shiemi, Konekomeru looked on with only mild interest, Yukio looked pleasantly surprised and if Rin looked at where his eyes were, she was sure Shiemi would hit him if she noticed, and Suguro.... looked unimpressed. He had that uncaring look, like he didn't particularly care about the super cute blonde under Rin's arm. That was interesting....

Rin left Shiemi to socialize with the rest of the class, slipping away to come up behind her twin. "Hey, Yukio." She whispered, leaning in close. "Where were you lookin' just now, huh?" Her twin tensed beside her.

"It's okay, I won't tell. I _will_ tell you that her bras are mostly pastel colors though. And they have cute little flower designs on them, too." And with that, she left him sputtering and red faced. 

He took a minute to himself before clearing his throat and getting everyone's attention, fully composed as their teacher. 

"Now that everyone is here, I'll be putting you in pairs." Yukio announced. He read off the names and it came out like this:

  
_Miwa and Takara_

_Yamada and Suguro_

_Okumura and Moriyama_

_Kamiki and Shima_

So Konekomeru and Creepy Ventriloquist, Videogame Junkie and Suguro(who looked very unhappy with his partner), Rin and Shiemi (Nice!), and Kamiki-the girl who hated everyone, with Shima-the class pervert with no morals.(That was a dose of punishment to both of them and Rin approved).

"We are at True Cross Academy's Amusement Park, called MephyLand, and in order to deal with the witness and damage reports of a ghost inside of here, all the ExWires have been assigned to help find it. Can anyone tell me what a ghost is?" Yukio carried on. Kamiki raised her hand. "Go ahead, Ms. Kamiki."

"A ghost is a demon who possesses material objects and turns them into vapor. Naturally, their characters are influenced by the feelings that the human or animal had while still alive." Kamiki repeated the textbook definition they'd learned in class.

Yukio nodded approvingly. "This ghost is the type that isn't tied down to one location and has been seen all over the park. It has taken the appearance of a little boy. At the moment, the extent of the damage he has done is yanking on people's arms and flipping skirts. However, if we leave it unattended as it is, there is a chance that it may become a malevolent spirit. Once you've divided into the pairs I just listed, I want you to each take a different direction to search in. You have until nightfall to find it. If you find the ghost, call either my or Mr. Tsubakki's mobile phone immediately. Any questions?" No one raised their hands. "You're dismissed!"

§~•~§~•~§

Rin and Shiemi roamed the paths of the Amusement Park, both checking one side as they walk. Rin happy that neither of them were paired up with any of the guys. If Shiemi had gotten a tick with Shima, it would've been a disaster. Shima was a pervert who apparently wasn't raised to respect women. Konekomeru was just quiet and timid and Rin didn't know how to talk to him outside of class. Yamada was weird and Takara spoke with his puppet.

Suguro wasn't that bad now that he'd stopped trying to constantly pick fights with Rin. She figured they might have been able to get along long enough to complete a simple mission like this one. 

But Yukio was the one who paired them up and he'd made sure to keep Shiemi and Rin seperate from Shima and Rin and Suguro seperate also. He'd put his sister and his only friend together and given Shima to the other girl who wouldn't hesitate to beat his ass if he tried anything. Rin guessed he'd wanted Shiemi to feel comfortable enough to participate during this mission, so he'd put her with the person she was most comfortable with in the class. 

The mission was uneventful until Shiemi turned to look at Rin. She almost jumped back in surprise. The blonde's cheeks were puffed put and red. "Ah, Shiemi? What's wrong? Are you angry?" Rin wondered. 

"I look like a fool when I keep smiling all the time!" The girl explained. "So I'm keeping my face like this!" Rin winced. "I hate to break it to ya, but you look pretty foolish with your face like this, too. Please go back to normal. I like your constant smile." Rin told her honestly. 

Shiemi's face relaxed. "I....I've wanted to go to an amusement park for as long as I can remember, but when I was younger, I couldn't handle it because of the sheer amount of people there. But I think the present me will be alright!" She confessed shyly. "The stalls and rides all look so lively and fun! Next time I come here, I want to play, not hunt for a demon on a mission!" 

"That sounds like a good time. I could come with you to keep the creeps away?" Rin offered. "Shiemi beamed at her. "That'd be great! Thanks, Rin!" She cheered. 

Rin heard crying and grabbed Shiemi's hand, running for the source of the sound. Shiemi hadn't heard it yet, but as they got closer, a look of understanding passed over her face when she heard the crying. 

The ghost was sitting on the carousel on one of the plastic horses, bawling his eyes out. Rin felt a pang in her heart. She used to be like that when she was little. She'd always run to the local park and cry, sitting on a swing by herself. 

"What's wrong, kiddo?" Rin asked him gently. "Why are you crying?"

The little boy let out a wail and shot into Shiemi's arms, resting his head on her chest, still sobbing. "I-I....w-was sick for a really long time...." He choked out. "Mommy and Daddy promised me that I could come to this amusement park and play when I got better. B-But I died....and now I can't play with anyone anymore!"

  
"You must have been lonely, huh, Kiddo?" Rin sighed softly. Having no one to play with was something she was _very_ familiar with.

Without warning, the kid felt up Shiemi's chest and flipped Rin's skirt up. They shrieked in surprise as the kid raced away. "Shut up, hag!" he'd growled. Rin gave an indignant cry and Shiemi took off after the brat.

"Hey! Get back here, you little rat!" Rin had almost forgotten that kids could be huge assholes. Sometimes they were even crueler than adults. Because while children didn't understand adults, they understood each other and what hurt other children. Rin had heard more scathing words from the kids she grew up with than the adults. Rin had once wanted kids, but as she got older, she'd been turned off of that. This world was cruel. Besides, now that she'd be known as the daughter of Satan, she'd probably never be allowed to have kids anyways.

While Shiemi chased the kid, she pulled out her phone to call Yukio, leaning up against one of the several gold Mephisto statues. As the phone rang, her sword was yanked upwards and she held onto it fast on reflex, getting pulled up with the sword. She was met with a pretty bizzare-looking guy. 

His hair was green, with the interesting style of a spike on the crown of his head. His eyes were a gleaming gold, prominent eyebags under them making him look like he hadn't slept well in years. His outfit was an assortment of greens, blacks, and greenish-yellows, all in different striped patterns. His boots curled at the toes and there were little skull buttons on one of his overshirts. His gold eyes were slit-pupiled and his ears were pointed like Rin's were. When he spoke she could see his fangs.

"Hey!" She protested. "Who the hell are you?! And why are you taking my sword?!"

"Who am I?" The guy cocked his head to the side. "Oh, yes. I'm Amaimon. I'm the Demon King of Earth. I'm something like your brother." The guy answered. "What do you mean 'something like?' Are you my brother or not?" Rin snapped. "No, we're not actually related. The Humans think we are though, so we go along with it because we used to think it was funny." Amaimon explained. Rin nodded. "Nice. I'm Rin. Now why do you want my sword? And can you put me down, please?" She wondered. 

"Ah, I wanted to see how the sword worked-the seal on your flames. And I wanted to see if you really had the divine flames." Amaimon said, putting her back on the ground and hopping down in front of her himself. He was actually a few centimeters shorter than her.

"I can't show you that here. Someone might see me and I'm kinda trying to keep my dad a secret." She told him. She knew she should be freaking out, but hopefully, Yukio was hearing all this through the phone that and been ringing right before Amaimon had shown himself. She was depending on her brother to get the hint and come to her rescue. For now, she was gonna try to keep Amaimon talking.

"Ah, because humans fear Satan and his flames?" Amaimon recalled. She nodded. "Yeah." He frowned and before she could even register he'd moved, he'd punched her across the face. 

" _Hey,_ I was being nice to you, asshole!" She complained. "I'll just have to _make_ you play with me if you won't do it willingly." Amaimon decided. He tried to grab for her sword again, but she held tight to it, pulling it back. They were essentially in a tug-of-war over a sword. 

Finally, Amaimon yanked it towards him and managed to pull the red cover off. Rin took her chance and ran with the thankfully still-sheathed sword.

Amaimon gave a snarl and rushed after her. She ran to the carousel and led him on a chase around every pony, ducking and weaving all over the place. He caught up to her at one point, but she threw the sword up, punched the demon in the nose, caught the sword, and kept going. Adrenaline was helping her not panic as she ran for the roller coaster called "Go To Hell." How ironic.

Amaimon chased her up the beams of the rollercoaster. Rin jumped from beam to beam, almost falling several times and lacking the grace and practice Amaimon had as he hopped up after her. 

Up on top of the roller coaster, they balanced on the cars as they fought hand-to-hand. Amaimon was a Demon King and as fast as she was. But he didn't have the technique that she did. The Earth King seemed to rely more on brute strength than actual fighting techniques. Rin had the upper hand there and it was the only way she was able to fend him off this long. She was praying Yukio got to her soon.

Amaimon finally got in some good hits and split her lip as well as probably broke a couple of her ribs. Every time she dodged, Amaimon sent pieces of the roller coaster down to the ground. Rin glanced down just to make sure no one was under them and almost had a heart attack when she saw Shiemi chase the Ghost Boy into a striped tent, not seeing the debris falling over the place. She yelped and sent a blast of almost white blue fire. It burned all the debris before it reached the tent thankfully, but it cost Rin her upper hand against Amaimon. The demon grabbed her by the face and slammed her through the coaster tracks. She groaned and clawed at him. He was sitting on her broken ribs and she could barely breathe under him. He proceeded to relentlessly punch her face and chest several times until they reached the ground again with Amaimon still on top of her. 

"I don't understand why father and brother are so interested in you. You held out for only a short time, not even using father's power. How boring." Amaimon hummed contemplatively. "Sorry, I don't pull my sword on the first date." Rin rasped. It was uneccesary wittiness, but she couldn't help herself. She gave the demon a bloody grin and jabbed his left side with her claws.

Rin coughed up blood and spit it into the Demon King's eyes, swiping her claws across his face. He cried out in pain as one of her claws caught his right eye. Before he could crush her windpipe in retaliation, a voice came from beside them. It wasn't Yukio's and Rin desperately hoped Amaimon wouldn't go after whichever one of her classmates had come to her rescue like a moron.

But to her surprise, Amaimon got up and ran away from them. She was left staring up at the wrecked roller coaster above her, wheezing. Her vision blurred in and out and she blinked the black dots away. So her body was wrecked and hurt everywhere, but the good news was that she could still feel Kurikara digging into her back under her, so she'd kept it safe like Shiro had told her to before he was put into a coma. 

She smiled faintly at the thought. "Yeah, she's definitely out of it." A woman's voice said above her. Rin furrowed her brows. She'd never heard that voice before. "We need to get her to the infirmary, this won't stem the blood flow for long!" That was Yukio. 

"Holy shit! Is she gonna be okay?! What happened?!" Suguro was worried about her. How sweet.

"As soon as she can think clearly and talk, I'm interrogating her, Four-eyes!" That was the unknown voice again. Rin closed her eyes to block out the sunlight and finally passed out.


	12. Not Really An interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you think the things Rin say are too harsh, just remember–girls are more emotional and take less shit than guys do. Pair that with Rin's headstrong personality and you get this. Please enjoy!

Rin woke up in the infirmary fully healed a while later. There was a woman sitting next to her cot, playing a familiar handheld game.

"Who-"

"Shura Kirigakure, Senior Investigator. I was sent by the Vatican to investigate the Cram School class this year. You're coming with me for questioning." Shura informed her.

It was then that Rin noticed she was wearing something similar to what Shura was, obviously having been put in the clean clothes as opposed to her ripped and bloody uniform-a peach-colored bikini top that barely covered her chest, ripped booty shorts that exposed half her ass, and her own combat boots. She crossed her arms over her chest as she followed the woman to the door and grabbed her sword on the way.

Shura pulled out a ring of fancy keys and used one to open a portal to enter the Japanese Branch Headquarters. Rin followed her through.

The place was huge, cold, and an architectural masterpiece. There weren't any windows, but there were several doors and hallways leading off to other places. Exorcists constantly emerged and left through the doors, using magic keys.

"This place is the center of the True Cross. The Japanese Branch's base is hidden under True Cross Academy. The Vatican Headquarters are under St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. Officially, we don't exist. We're just an international organization with branches all over the world. We have a long history, though. We've carried the burden of exterminating demons all over the world for over two thousand years now." Shura explained casually as she led Rin down a wide hallway.

"That's right. That is what we, the True Cross Order, do. It's been a long time, hasn't it, Miss Kirigakure?" Mephisto greeted the woman with his signature grin. "You've snuck into my school as an inspector? I wasn't informed of this." The demon wa still smiling, but it did not reach his eyes. They were cold and unwelcoming. 

"Mephisto." Shura greeted him like he was shit on the bottom of her shoe. "Let me just get to the point: It's suspected that you've been hiding Satan's kid without informing the Vatican. What are you planning?" She demanded. Rin stood there awkwardly, her arms still crossed over her mostly exposed chest.

"Don't be absurd, I'm not scheming anything. And what are you doing with poor Rin here?" He tsked disapprovingly and snapped his gloved fingers. A coat appeared over the girl and she sighed in relief. She didn't want to owe the demon, though. She was about to say so and he held a hand up. "Keep it, Dear. You need it." He spoke as if he was slightly judging her on her choice of wardrobe. Rin fumed silently as the two adults conversed. 

The Demon turned back to Shura. "Despite what some may suspect of me, just remember that everything I do is in the best interests of the Order." 

"In these last two thousand years, we Exorcists have only fought a defensive war. Now we have the chance to take the battle to the front lines." He pointe south. Shura looked like she wanted dto hit him, but he had a valid point. 

"So she's gonna be a weapon against Satan? Is that your plan? You're gonna make a kid fight in your war?" Shura said gruffly. Mephisto's grin curled even wider. "Oh please, Shura, don't act like you care for her. You humiliated the poor dear on the way here and didn't even tell her brother or her friends she was awake." He shook his head.

Rin was reeling. She'd said she'd kill Satan herself, but she had never agreed to be a weapon for some huge organization or to enter into a war. Though, she supposed that with her being Satan's daughter, a weapon was all people would see her as if they didn't see a monster. 

"That's off topic." Shura snapped at the man. "You're still supposed to consult with the higher ups before doing anything drastic like this!" Her glare was filled with daggers and hatred. "In an ideal world, yes. But sometimes, you must take the chance and simply apologize later. People are unfortunately not very open minded about the possibilities this could bring us." Mephisto told her calmly, like he was above getting angry. 

"Was Shiro Fujimoto also trying to do this?" Shura asked. "Fujimoto was raising her until she wasn't human anymore. We would've trained her in secret and then unleashed her onto the battlefield one day as our weapon." Mephisto admitted. Rin felt a pang in her chest. Shiro was only waiting until she was old enough to be introduced to her powers. He would've just given her away to Mephisto to be turned into a weapon. Rin couldn't tell who to trust. Shiro had said he loved her and that she was his daughter, but Mephisto was disclosing their full plan and it made so much more sense now. Shiro had neglected her and let her mostly do whatever she wanted until that fateful night. 

Shiro didn't really love her. 

"I see. Whatever the case is, I'll need to report to the higher-ups. Before that, I'd like to interrogate this girl. I'll be using the Great Cell." Rin tuned back in to the conversation.

"Do as you like." Mephisto shrugged. "She's very entertaining." 

Shura was already dragging Rin away. Out of nowhere, Yukio came into view and stopped in front of them. It seemed he'd figured out what was happening when he went to check on his sister and found her and Shura both gone. 

"Shura, please wait!" Yukio requested. "It's pointless to interrogate her! Please let me instruct her instead." Rin smiled faintly. _Better late than never, Yuki._

Shura stopped and turned her gaze on him. "I know the frame was changed, but that place is still the same, isn't it?" She didn't intend to hear a word Yukio said. Props to him for trying anyway. Yukio, surprisingly, stepped in front of Shura again, a frown on his face. "That's my sister, not some mindless beast. Use a normal interrogation room." He said firmly. Rin beamed at him from behind the angry woman.

"You did good work today. Go home and get some rest." Shura pushed past him, grabbing Rin and pulling her along after her. Rin grabbed for her twin, but Shura was too fast. "Shura!" He couldn't catch them.

Shura dragged Rin through a huge doorway, threw Rin inside, and closed the door behind her. The room was large, but completely bare. "On the way here, you were so docile, you were like a little kitten." Shura grinned at her. "I appreciate that." 

"How do you know Dad and Yukio?" Rin asked carefully. "You can say that I was Shiro's apprentice, once." Shura admitted. Rin had never met this woman, but Yukio did, so she must have trained with him at True Cross.

"It was a couple years before you were born. I was just scraping by everyday, barely staying alive, and then that man rescued me." She looked like she was reminiscing for a moment, then turned her back to Rin. "But that was a long time ago." Suddenly, she doubled over, groaning. Rin started. What was wrong with her? Cramps? What unfortunate timing. Shura had been delivering her Tragic Backstory.

"Cramps?" Rin guessed sympathetically, getting closer. Mistake.

"None of your business!" Shura whirled around and yanked the sword out of Rin's grasp. "You idiot! I can't believe you fell for that!" Shura cackled. Rin glowered at her. "Well excuse me for having a heart, Boobzilla!" She growled. 

Rin lunged and almost got a swipe in, but Shura was fast. She jumped back, pulling her own sword out if the interesting red tattoos that stretched down her torso. So that was what they were for. 

As a first class inspector from the Vatican HQ," Shura began. "I'm following secret orders." She spoke casually, like she hadn't just stolen Rin's demon heart and pointed a sword at the unarmed girl. 

  
"The day the Paladin was rushed into surgery and put in a coma to heal, I was told that Shiro Fujimoto and the Director of Japan Branch, Mephisto Pheles, were conspiring together. Ever since the Blue Night sixteen years ago, they'd been hiding something that they took measure to keep hidden. It became my job to find out what that was. If I concluded that it was something related to Satan, I shouldn't hesitate to eliminate it immediately." They circled, staying along the cold stone walls.

"That's a little harsh. What if the thing related to Satan was a kid? Or a human, like Yukio?" Rin asked. Shura frowned. "He doesn't count because he's human." She said. "But he's definitely related to Satan. I shared a womb with him, I think I'd know." Rin raised an eyebrow. Being confident was hard in this outfit. Why did this woman enjoy dressing like a hooker?!

"Ugh, that doesn't matter! I've just confirmed your blue fire with my own eyes. As ordered, elimination is the next step. So don't struggle, 'kay? It'll be quick, I promise." Shura fucking _smirked,_ like she was _glad_ she got this job! "It is a student's duty to clean up their master's messes, after all." Rin was personally offended and she let it be known. 

"Who the fuck said _I_ was the mess he made?!" She shrieked angrily. Shura jerked back in surprise, lowering her sword some. "I think _you're_ the mess he made, you psycho! Who kills the Order's only offensive weapon in a war you seem to be _losing?!_ And who the _hell_ walks around wearing hooker clothes _for fun?!_ At least I'm not flashing my tits and shaking my ass at the club on Friday nights!" Shura was caught off guard and Rin managed to straight up jump on top of her and retrieve her sword. Rin kept the harsh words going.

  
"How _dare_ you say _I'm_ the mess he made?! Has he ever told _you_ he loved you?! Or called _you_ his daughter?! Did he take _you_ in like he took in me and Yukio?! Because I don't remember ever meeting _big sissy Shura_ at any point! And I sure as _hell_ don't remember saying you could dress me up like a god damn _sex doll,_ walk me around Headquarters for everyone to see, and then throw me in here to put me down like a fucking _dog!_ " Shura was speechless on the floor, looking like she'd just been slapped across the face by a harsh reality check. Good, serves her right.

Rin unsheathed Kurikara and held the blade to Shura's throat. "You're not killing me today. I'll die _my_ way, whenever and wherever I want." She growled lowly. Shura swallowed, throat barely touching the steel of the fiery blade. She nodded.

"If you even _think_ about attacking me when I turn to leave, I'll burn you so badly you'll want some new clothes-ones that actually cover your body." She walked towards the doors and kicked them down. Yukio yelped and jumped out of the way before rushing to his sister. Rin released a heavy sigh and fell against him in a lazy hug. Yukio wrapped his arms around her, albeit a little stiffly.

"What did you do to make her let you go?" He wondered quietly. Rin snorted. "Well, I insulted her, rubbed it in her face that Shiro didn't want her, and then threatened to burn her so bad that she'd need a wardrobe that actually covered something." Rin answered. "She really pushed you that far huh?" Yukio mused. "She told me she was gonna kill me and smiled about it, Yukio. She called me the mess Dad left behind and said apprentices had to clean up their masters messes." Yukio winced, easily able to imagine how well that went over. He patted her back as comfort.

He kept an arm around Rin as he steered her to the nearest door and used a key to get back to the infirmary since it was closer to their Dorm and Yukio had left his dorm key and exorcist coat there.

They'd both forgotten about the rest of the Cram class waiting to make sure Rin was okay until they walked out to the waiting room to leave through the front doors.

Shiemi stared, her face steadily getting redder and redder. Kamiki rolled her eyes and slapped Shima, who was drooling. Konekomeru spluttered and fell out of his chair. Suguro saw what she was wearing and averted his eyes immediately. "Do you want my blazer again? It'll cover you more than that jacket...." He offered, still looking away as his face turned cherry red.

It was too late, of course. That image would be stuck in Suguro's mind forever. Rin had the body of a goddess and he would't be forgetting that any time soon. Suguro only hoped it didn't distract him too much from his studies and Exorcist work.

"No thank you, I can give her my coat. Thank you, Suguro." Yukio turned him down and wrapped his exorcist coat around his sister. He sounded suspicious, but he wasn't snappy, at least. "Rin will be fine. Thank you all for waiting here. Please go back to your dorms for the day." He advised.

They all went to their respective dorms. Rin showered and changed into one of Yukio's shirts to use as a nightgown before going downstairs to make dinner. They ate together, did homework(Rin mostly zoned out and got nothing done), and went to bed.

  
§~•~§~•~§

The next day, the Cram Class had a new teacher. Shura had apparently decided she liked Rin and would be sitting in on classes from now on. "Anyhow, I transferred from Vatican headquarters to the Japan Branch. I'm Shura Kirigakure, 18. Nice to meet you all." She gave a wink and a peace sign and Rin rolled her eyes. "Go sit down, you hussy." She muttered. Shura narrowed her eyes at Rin before continuing. 

"Whatever happens, let's have fun these next few months training, eh? Now then," she looked down at a clipboard and grimaced. "For the time being, we have Magic Circles, Sealing Techniques, and Sword Techniques. I'll be in charge of those." 

"Ms. Kirigakure?" 

"What is it, Suguro?"

"Why have you taken an interest in us students? What happened to our other Magic Circles instructor, Mr. Neuhaus?" The man had just up and left after the ExWire Exam and they hadn't seen him since.

"Those are adult matters." Shura brushed the question off. "Kids don't need to worry about those, okay?"

Their first class with Ms. Kirigakure began.


	13. Summer Camp, But With Demons

Rin was relieved when the last day of school before summer vacation finally came. She was able to push through the term without too many major problems thanks to Yukio's notes and the Kyoto Boys helping her sometimes. Well, Suguro and Konekomeru helped her, Shima just stared at her the whole time. 

Rin thought she did pretty good considering she had to juggle regular school, Cram School, and occasional exorcisms. Not to mention training with her sword and making up attacks for Rodan in combat when she couldn't sleep(which was annoyingly often). 

She'd just reached the bottom of the school's front steps when someone called out to her. She turned and noticed the Kyoto trio coming down after her. “This is the first time we’ve met outside of class.” Konekomeru commented. 

“Hey guys!” She greeted, smiling. “Once the closing ceremony is done, we have to assemble at the True Cross Halfway Station.” Suguro told her. “Want to come along, Rin?” Konekomeru offered politely. "Sure!" Rin walked alongside them and it felt nice to actually have friends to walk around and chill with.

Suguro had his hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face, but it looked more like he was trying not to smile. Maybe he liked having a friend outside of Shima and Koneko?

§~•~§~•~§

“Everyone’s going to have a fun Summer Break starting today!” Yukio told them with a smile. "Yeah, everyone but us." Rin grumbled. She got snickers from the rest of the group–including Shura–and a glare from her twin. "And since when did _you_ know what fun was?" Yukio huffed and looked away from his sister, composing himself once more after the blow to his pride. 

"However, all the ExWires will now be participating in a Forest Training Camp. You will all go through Combat Training in the Academy forest section for three days. Miss Kirigakure and myself will be leading this Training Camp.” Shura gave them a little wave from her spot beside Yukio. “The focus on the first half of the Training Camp will be strength training. The second stage will be a series of tests to see if you are ready to take part in actual missions. This forest Training Camp will also serve as a test, so let’s all do our best.” Rin shook her head. Yukio needed to work on his motivational speech-giving skills. 

§~•~§~•~§

Rin could hear the heavy breathing and complaining behind her from her classmates as they hiked through the forest the whole way there. 

“I don’t feel like an Exorcist." Suguro groaned. "More like one of those marching soldiers.”

“It’s so hot....my bag is so heavy...." Konekomeru wheezed. 

“I’m so tired....” Shima whimpered.

“There are so many mosquitoes!” Kamiki sneered.

"Can you find anything else to whine about? We can make a game out of it if you try hard enough." Rin huffed. "Why aren't _you_ tired? You're not even sweating!" Shima pointed out. Rin shrugged. "This is easy! And besides, this place is _beautiful!_ " She spotted a waterfall and ran to it excitedly, letting the surprisingly cold water run over her hands. 

"Jesus, your energy is ridiculous. Please stop, Rin." Yukio asked tiredly. Rin cackled. "It's _your_ camp and you're already probably wishing you were back at the dorm!" She snickered. "I know _I_ am." Shura agreed. 

"Are you even human?!" Shima complained. Rin laughed it off. "Apparently I'm the healthiest person among _you_ babies!" 

They reached a large clearing and decided to set up camp here. Yukio instructed them that he and the boys would light the fire and set up the tents while Shura and the girls would set up a protective circle around the camp and prepare dinner. 

“Right, let’s get moving!” Yukio commanded, finally taking off his jacket to reveal his short sleeved uniform shirt so he could help the boys with the tents. 

“Woah, Yukio~! Showing those elbows already~? How scandalous~! Will we get a glimpse of your ankles next~?" Rin called. "Shut up and get to work, Okumura!" He ordered. He turned back to the tents to see the Suguro doing his best to stifle his laughter and Shima and Konekomeru nearly collapsed on the ground as they leaned on each other, laughing hard. 

Drawing the magic circle was easy. Rin then had to endure the torture that was watching the other girls try to cook. Rin shook her head in dismay, a grimace on her face as she snatched the potato peeler from Shiemi. "Dear God, _out!_ Both of you, go! Out of my kitchen!" She snapped. Shiemi yelped and rushed after Kamiki and they left Rin to her work. Suguro watched in amusement as the two girls practically ran from their designated kitchen area while Rin took over. She was vicious when she wanted to be!

Half an hour later, they were all eating vegetable curry with rice. “Food time!” She called. They all sat down around the fire and ate dinner as a group. It was the closest thing to hanging out with friends Rin had ever gotten.

"I envy whatever family you marry into." Shima was weirdly quiet when he spoke. He seemed to be in some sort of shock.

“This food is amazing!” Konekomeru complimented. Rin felt her cheeks heat at the praise. Rin's family had told her that she was an amazing cook, but after a while, it felt like family was obligated to say these kinds of things. Comments from family usually didn't have much value with things like cooking. Hearing it from her first-ever friends was incredibly gratifying, though.

Kamiki didn't say anything, but from the way she kept eating the food and relishing every bite, Rin knew she enjoyed it too. 

“Holy shit, marry me, this is amazing.” Suguro muttered. Rin set her chin on her hand, which was balanced on her knee where it crossed over her other leg. "Well damn, take me out to dinner first, Suguro." She responded, grinning. She knew he'd blurted it out on impulse, but was it so bad to keep the fun going?

"Where do you wanna go?" Suguro shot back, playing it off. For once, the boy was thankful for his impulsiveness. Rin looked impressed by his nerve, raising a brow. She also looked very pleased, judging the smirk curling on her lips.

“Now then,” Yukio cut off the interaction abruptly, standing and delivering their instructions for their first task. Rin frowned at him and so did Suguro. Yukio always had to be a buzzkill, didn't he?

“In other words, a test of courage! A test of courage~!” Shura had been drinking beer all night, and now her face was flushed and she was completely out of it. Who let this woman around kids?

“Shura, please, we’re in the middle of work.” Yukio sighed. "Didn’t she say that she was eighteen? She’s underaged....” Suguro recalled. 

  
"What? No, she just turned twenty-  
si—!” _Clang!_ Shura’s empty beer can hit the teen dead in the head and he froze. “Woops, my hand slipped....” Shura giggled. Rin did her best not to snicker.

“Cut the crap and get to work already!” Yukio snapped, grabbing the next can of beer she'd been about to open and tossing it into their designated trash bag. “Hehehe he's mad~!” Shura cackled as Yukio did his best to compose himself and carry on with the instructions. 

“Anyway, I’ll go through the plan. To begin, everyone must run into the forest alone. Somewhere in this forest are three lanterns, which you must light before you can return. For the next three days of this training camp, only those who can light the lanterns and return safely by midnight tonight will earn the right to participate in actual combat missions. The only information I can give you is this: the lanterns are located within 500 meters of this camp. Moving on, I’ll brief you on the contents of the supply bag we handed out earlier." Yukio took Rin's to use as an example and held it up front of the class.

"There’s enough food and water to last you three days, a compass, a flashlight, flares, and a single match. When night falls, this forest is swarmed by low-level demons. If you feel like you are in too much danger, please use the flare. Either Ms. Kirigakure or I will come to collect you within two minutes. However, if you use your flare, you'll be tapping out.” They all nodded to show they understood.

“Furthermore,” Yukio continued. Rin wanted to groan. Her attention span was shortening by the second, could he just get on with it already?! “The lantern has been tagged so that we’ll know as soon as it has been lit. If you only light the lantern as you approach the base, you get disqualified. If the flame goes out on your way to the base, you get disqualified. If you sabotage your classmates, _you will be disqualified._ So think carefully about your utilities and use them to their fullest. Keep in mind your weaknesses and don't let them trip you up. Making mistakes in the field is much worse than mistakes made in training." He finished the instructions and whatever kind of advice _that_ was.

"Wow, great pep talk, bro." Rin said sarcastically. She heard Suguro and Shima snicker next to her. Yukio ignored her, as usual. “Everyone, prepare yourselves.” They took their chosen places around the edges of the circle and readied themselves to run.

“So basically, all we have to do is go out in the forest, find a lantern, light it, and bring it back.” Rin simplified. “Shouldn't be too hard.”

  
"Hey you~!" Shura stumbled over to Rin while no one was looking. "It's night time and everything is dark in there. There's lotsa demons out and about now, kid. Be careful with those flames, 'kay?" And then she stumbled away like she hadn't just given Rin the second worst pep talk ever. The first went to Yukio for the one he'd given just a few minutes ago.

Rin strapped her bag on securely and readied herself. No flames. That shouldn't be too hard for her, right? Yukio gave the signal and everyone took off in different directions.

§~•~§~•~§

_I stand corrected. It's_ **_really_ ** _hard not to use my flames to burn up these fucking moths!_

Rin gave a frustrated growl. "Ugh! Why are they swarming so much?!" She'd already turned her flashlight off and that hadn't lessened the amount of demon moths swarming her much. She was lucky night vision came with the whole half-demon thing! She'd been practically flying through the woods for maybe ten minutes, not stopping at all.

She'd dodged low branches, sidestepped bushes, jumped over raised roots, and anything else one needed to do to avoid being taken down in the woods at night. Rin was glad she'd spent so much time running from bullies on the playgrounds now. Her reflexes were great for this kind of setting. _Parkour is good for Exorcist work. Noted._

Rin heard a high-pitched scream off to her left and debated on whether she should go help whoever that was before sighing and changing direction. Once she got close enough, she saw a glimpse of familiar blonde hair among a swarm of demon moths. "Shiemi!" She lunged, batting at the demon moths with her sword sheathe. She backed up and turned her flashlight on to draw them away. When that didn't work, she stopped right next to Shiemi and hoped no one would see what she was about to do.

She willed just a tiny bit of her flames to cover Shiemi and burned away the bugs. The poor blonde was unconscious, she'd probably panicked. Rin pulled the flames back inside herself just before Shiemi woke up. "Wha–? Rin!" She sat up in surprise. "I uh....I heard you scream." Rin said, giving an awkward smile.

Rustling sounded from the bushes, and both girls turned to see Suguro emerge from the bushes. “Woah, what was that just now?” He wondered. 

Rin hoped she was right in her assumption and answered. "Shiemi got swarmed by moths, I flashed my light around to get em away and played baseball." She gave a sideways grin, gesturing with her sheathed sword. Suguro snorted and shook his head. "Yeah, these chuchi are merciless. I'm just glad they're not mosquitos." He admitted. "Wow, thanks for the nightmare fuel." Rin complained. 

"Well, we've all already kinda failed this assignment, huh?" Shiemi sighed in disappointment. "I'm sorry. They overwhelmed me and I couldn't get them off no matter what I did! They even shredded my summoning paper when I took it out to summon Nee!"

"Yeah, aren't you the one who declared he wasn't gonna help anyone on this assignment?" Rin recalled Suguro's words from earlier before they left the circle with an amused smirk. "Aw, shut up! You came to the rescue too!" Suguro growled. "Yeah, but I didn't declare anything stupid like you did because I know myself better than that. We were told in the beginning of the year that Exorcists work in teams and that fits with my morals anyways, so even if it means I fail this solo assignment, I'll still help whoever needs it." Rin pointed out to him, shrugging. 

Suguro was about to snap back, but then he stopped. He appeared to be thinking deeply about something before letting out a "Huh." 

"What the hell does that mean, Rooster? What are you thinking?" Rin wondered. "Exorcists work in teams, huh? So why pit us against each other?" Suguro muttered out loud. Rin came to the same realisation a second later. "He didn't! He was actually really vague! Did you just solve this thing?!" Rin jumped up excitedly. "I think I did!" Suguro looked pretty pleased with himself and slapped a high-five to Rin when she offered it. Shiemi smiled wide, standing up. "So we have to work together! Thank goodness!" She cheered.

Before they could start coming up with a plan, something came flying out of the bushes. Rin automatically used the hand she'd high-fived Suguro with to intertwine their fingers, pull him to the side and out of the way, putting her other hand up to brace against the staff that came down on it. She pushed the thing away and Shima fell backwards to the dirt. 

"Shima? What the hell, man?! You almost killed Okumura!" Suguro griped. "Well, actually, he almost killed _you._ _I_ saved you, so you owe me two now. If I cared about that stuff, I mean." Rin told him.

"Ahhhh, sorry. The bugs attacked and I panicked." The boy laughed awkwardly. Suguro rolled his eyes. "So what are you guys congregating here for? Havin some fun away from prying eyes~?" Shima wiggled his eyebrows and got hit from both sides. "No, because unlike you, _I_ have standards." Suguro snorted. 

"Hey, the fuck does that mean?!" Rin gasped, offended. "It means you're too good for us." Suguro answered easily. Rin smiled and looked away, a red flush lighting up her features. Shima fake-gagged at his best friend while she was turned away. 

"We need to get a lantern using teamwork. We should make a plan." Suguro carried on. On the inside, he was kind of panicking, but no one needed to know that. Somehow, his impulsiveness switched from making him look like a douchebag and an idiot in front of Rin to making him smoother than butter. It was a nice change, especially since Rin responded so nicely to him. Maybe he did have a chance after all.

His phone went off and he hummed. "Nice. Koneko found a lantern, he needs help lighting it and getting it back to camp. Alrighty everyone fall in! Okumura, you're in front so you can bat away the moths. Shima and Moriyama, you watch our sides. I'll bring up the rear." Suguro told them. They obeyed and got in formation.

The group walked through the forest at a fast pace with Rin leading the way easily without a flashlight. No one asked her about it and that was for the best. They finally met up with Konekomeru at the lantern and realized what he meant when he said he needed help. 

  
"Bon! Thank goodness!" Konekomeru cried. "Oh, yeah I get it now." Suguro looked exasperated and Rin agreed with him. "Goddamnit, Four-Eyes, seriously?!" She cried.

The lantern was huge and made of stone. Suguro, with his vast knowledge, identified the thing as a Peg Lantern. At night, it laid in wait for someone to light it. Once it was lit, the lantern would move and eat anything living for fuel. Women in particular were apparently a favorite food of theirs. It would be unable to move once it ran out of fuel or when morning broke. _Man, he's like a database of Exorcism knowledge!_ _So cool!_

  
“That sounds like materials for a suspicious and violating plan. How are we going to move this thing?” Rin asked. Her tone said she wouldn't welcome any said plans to use her or Shiemi as bait. "No, that's too risky. Someone would get hurt that way, so I think I have a better plan." Konekomeru explained everyone's placements.

"Bon, Shima, and Okumura will load the Peg Lantern onto the cart." They did so with relative ease thanks to Rin's strength and Suguro's formidable physique helping her maneuver the thing(Shima was practically useless).

"We’ll have to seal it so it can’t move once the fire has been lit, so we'll put talismans on all four sides of the Peg Lantern’s pedestal to seal it. Once we’ve placed the talismans on the Peg Lantern directly, we’ll continue chanting a Buddhist sutra to support its effects. Bon is the only one of us here who can recite it perfectly." Bon nodded in agreement.

"Before we light it up, we need to gather some food for the Peg Lantern. We’ll use these Chuchi for fuel. If the Peg Lantern’s supply of food stops coming, the fire will go out and we'll all be disqualified, so we’ll have to be feeding it constantly. I gave this job to Moriyama. Once the fire has been lit, the Chuchi will be attracted to the light and fly into it, giving us a constant flow of fuel. Shima and I will act as guards in case anything bigger comes for us as we make our way back. And finally, the one with the most horsepower out of all of us will be pulling the cart. Okumura, I leave this to you as the resident Heavyweight Champion in the class.” Rin laughed at her given title. "Thanks, but can I try something real quick?" She requested. She was given the go ahead and summoned Rodan. The demon appeared with his usual burst of fire and a loud screech, which sounded deeper every time she summoned him. Rodan seemed to grow much faster than humans, like animals did.

Rodan's body was about the size of a baby chimpanzee, around 45 cm tall, and his wingspan was about 135 cm across. His feathers were less small and fluffy, now actual feathers a darker shade of brown that was almost black. His wings had actual feathers now, the bottom layer of feathers missing, replaced by the embers constantly falling from the bottoms. Now, his tail feathers also ended in falling embers. His talons and claws were much sharper and seemed less brittle.

**Did you need me, Rin?**

Rin smiled. It was much easier being able to understand him now. She couldn't speak the demon language in front of her friends though, so Rin asked him her question in Japanese. "Question, could you lift and throw a semi-truck if you needed to?"

 **Rin** **, I don't know what that is.** The familiar deadpanned. "Okay, do you think you can pull that Peg Lantern?" She asked next. The bird gave the equivalent of a snort through his nostrils. **Of course, how weak do you think I am?**

Rin let out a hearty laugh and pet the bird on his head, running her nails down his scalp. He had smaller feathers growing around his face and head. "Atta boy!" She made a note to herself to ask Rodan what he liked to eat so she could carry treats for him with her. The demon had been nothing but good to her, God knew he deserved at least treats.

"Alright. I'll lead us through so we don't have to use our flashlights. Rodan will pull this. He'll need to use his feet, so he'll be backwards, but he understands what I say, so I can call back if we need to stop. Is that alright?" She turned back to her friends. "That sounds even better." Suguro said before Konekomeru could answer. "Your's was great, but she has some really good night vision going for her. She led us here and kept the chuchi away." He gave Konekomeru an apologetic look.

"Good! Everyone in position!" Konekomeru commenced their plan. Suguro started chanting, they got a fire going, Shima and Konekomeru guarded their sides, Shiemi turned her flashlight on to attract the chuchi to the lantern at first, then got to chill once the lantern was lit and took in the chuchi attracted to the firelight.

Several minutes into the journey back to camp with the lantern, a firework went up. “Do you think it's Kamiki or the Puppet Freak?" Shima wondered.   
No one answered.

Something came into Rin's view and she groaned. "Rodan, stop!" She ordered. The familiar obeyed and stopped moving.

"Guys, there’s a bridge!” She informed them. Calling it a bridge was being generous–It was more like some ratty old ropes and rotting wooden planks haphazardly placed across said ropes. The red paint that used to cover the wood was mostly chipped off and the old seals were yellowed and peeling off the entrances. “Alright, we've got two geniuses here. Suguro, It's your turn for a plan!" Rin said cheerfully. The boy rolled his eyes and showed her what he'd already been writing when she'd mentioned him. _**I'm making a plan already, give me a minute.**_

"Wow, is there anything you _can't_ do?" Rin marveled. Suguro's cheeks tinted red and he turned away from her.

Konekomeru noticed the seals on top of the wooden arch at the entrance of the bridge. “That’s the sanskrit character for Khan. There must be something sealed here as well. Everyone, keep away from the talismans.” He warned them.

Suguro showed them his notepad again. In short, Suguro illustrated and wrote out a brilliant plan after testing out how deep the River of Bugs was with Shima's staff–Koneko and Rin would move the cart to the other side by wading through the river. Konekomeru would be waiting on the other bank with a talisman. Over here, Rin would carry Shiemi over the river on her shoulders while Bon took off a talisman and let the lantern walk itself across the river. Rin was more than formidable enough to handle the demon, so that was fine with her. Once the lantern got into the cart, Konekomeru would place the talisman back on and render the demon lantern immobile once again. There was just one thing though....

"What will Shima be doing?" Rin asked. _**When it comes to bugs, Shima's useless, so he'll be standing by watching us do all the work and losing his dignity.**_ Suguro wrote. Rin snickered and Konekomeru gave a polite cough to cover up his own laugh.

They commenced the plan and it went smoothly, thankfully. Rin _did_ have to toss Shiemi to the other bank to outrun the Peg Lantern, but the blonde landed in bushes, so no harm done. Shima proved to be an annoyance because he absolutely refused to go across the river of creepy crawlies and clung onto Rin. She finally gave in with an exasperated sigh and picked the boy up. He was surprisingly light and easy to carry. She held him bridal-style as she carried him across the torrent of crawlers.

"I feel like this is a little switched up, huh?" Shima tried. "No it's not." Rin denied. She heard a stifled laugh from Konekomeru and figured she should probably stop making him laugh, because if _he_ was laughing, that meant _Suguro_ definitely wanted to laugh, and he needed to keep chanting.

The feeling of bugs crawling all around her legs over her stockings was an uncomfortable one, but not unbearable. As long as nothing crawled where it wasn't supposed to, she was fine. Of course, rather than the bugs, it was _Shima_ trying to defile her in this situation. Go figure.

"Shima, get your hand away from that _right now._ " She growled. He yelped and took his hand off her chest. They made it to the other side, Suguro following close behind. Rin climbed up with no help and Suguro made it up on his own as well. Instead of pulling Shima up with her though, Rin dropped him and held onto him only by his collar so he hung over the Bug River. He yelped and clutched onto her wrist.

"You have two choices Shima: You come up here and face me, or I drop you in the creepy crawlies. Either way, you're losing whatever's left of your dignity." She leaned in close to his face, her expression dead serious. " _Choose wisely._ "

Shima stared at her for a second before letting go of her wrist and holding his hands up in surrender. He looked like she was sending him to his death, which was pretty entertaining. Rin let a smile spread across her face. "You're more afraid of _me_ than bugs?" She mused.

 _"Good."_ With no further delays, she let go of his collar and listened to him shriek as he was submerged in the bugs. He flopped around like a fish for a minute or two before Rin checked her phone and saw the time. She hummed in dissatisfaction. "We gotta go, it'll be midnight soon."

"Shima, get up here you perv!" She called. The teen burst free of the bugs and let Rin pull him out. The guy was shaking like a leaf and Rin sighed. "Dude, you really need to do something about that. Preferably _before_ you get killed by a demon that just happens to look like a bug." She told him.

Right then, it seemed all the commotion had disturbed the bridge and the whole thing collapsed into the river. Rin winced. "Alright, that doesn't seem good. Let's hit it! Rodan, are you good to continue?" Before the demon could answer, Rin felt something weirdly soft curl around her wrists and ankles before she was yanked up in the air. She yelled in surprise as more soft, fuzzy tentacles wrapped around her legs, arms, and torso. " _What the shit?!_ "

She heard her friends call her name in alarm from below. "I'll be fine, go on without me! It's almost midnight!" She called to them. If they left her, she could burn this thing to a crisp in seconds, consequences be damned. Japan had a nasty reputation for tentacles she was _not_ about to be a part of that!

She heard Suguro groan from the ground. "You're doing this again?!" Rin almost laughed at how angry he was(Konekomeru had taken over the changing for the moment–Rin figured Suguro's throat was sore from how rough his voice sounded). "I'm trying to help you, let me be the lone wolf this time!" She called down. Then she shrieked as it creeped into her now-untucked shirt. The ones on her legs creeped closer to places they didn't belong and another tentacles wrapped possessively around her throat, caressing her face. "Oh, _fuck this!_ " She struggled in the air and didn't even manage to free any of her limbs, frustratingly enough.

"Shima, give me your staff and get ready to run!" Suguro ordered his friend. He grabbed a seal from the collapsed bridge that had fluttered to the ground, stabbed it onto the staff, and threw the thing like a spear so it nailed the giant chuchi holding Rin in the air between the eyes. She screamed as she was suddenly dropped and braced herself to hit the bugs below.

To her surprise, Suguro was able to stumble down into the bugs and catch her so she didn't go _crunch_ under the writhing insects. He steadied her in his arms and they stayed like that for a moment. Rin's heart was beating a hundred kilometers an hour and she wondered if Suguro could feel it through their clothes. She heard his breathless laugh in her ear and laughed with him. He moved her hair out of her face so she could see his relieved grin. "My knight in shining armor." She leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks."

They continued on the way back to camp and made it in time. Rin ripped her summoning paper to let Rodan rest and then collapsed on the ground. The rest of her group besides Shiemi followed suit, not caring if their uniforms got dirty as they lay on the ground of the camp.

"I see you all succeeded. Good job everyone!" Shura congratulated them with a grin.

Rin saw Kamiki and Takara both already there with the other two lanterns and frowned. "Wow, you both missed the _entire_ point of this excercise. Way to go, _team._ " She commented. "That's not surprising." Suguro scoffed. "Yeah, I gotta agree with Suguro and Okumura here–I don't think you're cut out for exorcism if all you do is act on your own and never accept help." Shura admitted honestly. "Or constructive criticism, for that matter." Konekomeru put in.

"Will you all stop ganging up on me already?! I get it!" The girl finally snapped.

Rin turned her attention away from the angry tsundere to ask Shiemi how she was feeling and saw the girl walking towards the edge of the circle.


	14. Amaimon, King of Exposing People

Rin caught Shiemi by the wrist just before she left the circle. "Hey, what's up with you?!" Rin turned the girl around forcefully and noticed her blank expression. "Shiemi?" She called cautiously.

"Ta da!" Amaimon dropped from the trees right outside the magic circle, riding some kind of goblin.

"Ugh, it's _you_ again!" Rin groaned. Not the best way to react to a Demon King, but this asshole had beat her mercilessly into the ground the last time she'd seen him and she wasn't looking forward to more injuries like that. And her replacement uniform had been expensive, too!

"What do you want, creep?" She demanded. Amaimon cocked his head to the side, like a curious dog. "What do I want?" He repeated. His luminescent gold eyes flashed when they locked with hers. "You."

Rin grit her teeth, letting a growl slip loose. She heard a shouted " _What?!_ " from Suguro behind her and put a hand out to stop him. Suguro halted in his tracks. "This is between me and him. _Don't be stupid._ " She told him seriously, making sure to catch his eyes before she pushed Shiemi back to him. "Hold onto her and have Yukio look at her whenever he gets back." She ordered, walking out of the circle.

"How charming, you came all on your own. I didn't need to use that girl as bait after all. I was going to goad you until you cooperated. I figured making her my bride would make you angry enough to let loose." Amaimon commented. "That's just messed up, man." Rin cringed. "Oh? Did _you_ want to be my bride? Sorry, but I don't think your father would approve of me as your husband."

"What the _fuck_ are you on about, you nutjob?! Just take me somewhere else so I can pound you into the ground!" Rin demanded.

Amaimon jumped down from his goblin mount and wrapped an arm around her, picking her up and jumping away faster than Shura could stop him. 

§~•~§~•~§

Shura pulled her sword and met the goblin Amaimon left behind outside of the barrier, sword-on-claws. "Damnit, it's Behemoth!" She left the circle to engage in combat without the students in the way.

"You say that, but _you're_ the one being stupid going off on your own again!" Suguro growled after Rin, bolting into the forest without a second thought. "Wait, don't–Son of a bitch, these goddamned kids!" Shura shrieked as the rest of the class except for Kamiki, who was holding Shiemi in place, ran back into the forest while she held off Behemoth.

Shura retreated back into the circle to take care of the poor blonde. She looked at the back of Shiemi's neck and just as expected, there was a mass under her skin wriggling around. Shura grimaced and used the tip of her sword to get carefully cut the skin. The larva popped out and Shura snatched it up before it could retreat back into the girl's neck. She crushed the bug in her hand and wiped the remains on her shorts uncaringly.

"Kamiki, you and Moriyama will come with me to pull the boys back from whatever is happening with Amaimon and Okumura. Got it?" She demanded. Kamiki nodded and Shiemi woke up with a little shaking. Shura once again engaged Behemoth on combat to let the girls pass them by. Hopefully they could make it in time.

§~•~§~•~§

Amaimon landed on a protruding rock that reminded Rin of the rock from The Lion King, far away from the camp. Before he could set her down, Rin leaned back and wrapped her legs around Amaimon's head and squeezed. The Demon King groaned at the force. He felt his jaw ache and grabbed Rin by the thighs, digging his claws in. When that didn't work, he raked his claws down her legs and shredded her stockings even further. Rin cried out and let go, backflipping away from the demon.

Amaimon made the Earth pop up under her feet until she was about ready to break out the flames.amd then, her friends arrived. She growled and glared at them menacingly.

" _What did I tell you idiots?!_ This is my fight, _stay the hell out of it already!_ " She yelled at them. A firework flew towards Rin and Amaimon and hit the Demon King. Rin cringed and waited for the smoke to clear to see his horribly disfigured face. Only, his face wasn't disfigured, because the firework actually hit the spike of hair on top of the Demon's head. Rin looked back down at her classmates and saw Konekomeru shaking in his boots. "I–I didn't mean to....." He stuttered. Rin shook her head, facepalming. Boys never listened when you needed them to, did they?

“Okumura, how the _fuck_ do you think you're gonna fight this guy when he's a royal from Gehenna and you're only part demon?!” Suguro demanded, holding his own firework and match, ready to blast the Earth King with the rocket.

“Why are you so stupid?! You're supposed to be a genius!” Rin groaned. Couldn't Suguro just listen for once?! "I'm serious, go back to camp and stay there while I take care of this!" If she could just get Amaimon to leave and have them not see her flames, she could say she'd hidden a holy water grenade in her hair in case of emergencies and chased the demon off.

"No, Exorcists fight in teams! We'll take him down together!" Suguro insisted. Rin didn't know who she wanted to punch more: Amaimon for causing this mess or Suguro for making it so much worse than it needed to be. "Fine! But don't you _dare_ judge me for what I have to do, you hear?" She bit out. There was no avoiding this issue. She saw Shiemi and Izumo appear from the trees and sighed. All her classmates would see her blue flames and they'd judge her anyway. They'd probably hate her too, cast her out. But she didn't come here to make friends. She came here to avenge her father, even if he wasn't dead. Shiro would never be the same after he woke up and she knew it.

In that moment, everyone's gaze was pointed to Shima, who started laughing about Amaimon's hair looking like broccoli after the rocket hit it. Amaimon was on the boy in a flash, palm-striking Shima in the ribs and sending him flying back into a tree with a painful crunch that only Rin and Amaimon heard thanks to their enhanced senses.

Next, Amaimon easily twisted Konekomeru's arm the way it should never go and wrapped a clawed hand around Suguro's throat, lifting the teen up into the air easily despite Suguro being taller than him.

"No! Stop! You're fighting _me,_ not them!" Rin ran forward and yanked Amaimon away from Suguro. He dropped the boy, who fell to his knees and wheezed. Shiemi and Izumo helped the three injured boys back to the tree line. Yukio finally showed up and pleaded with Rin not to draw the sword. Tears glistened in her eyes, reflecting the bright, brilliant blue flames that danced all around her and cast shadows from the trees as she drew Kurikara. "I'm sorry, Yuki. I have to. I can't save you any other way." She choked out before charging Amaimon, the Demon King of Earth.

They traded blows, sword against claws, punches and slices, gashes and bruises forming on both parties. Amaimon narrowly missed her left eye at one point and Rin almost lopped off his head had he been a second too slow. Rin was only doing this good because of her reflexes, but she'd never be able to beat Amaimon unless she gave it her all.

And gave it her all she did. In fact, she gave too much, got too absorbed in the fight. She let her baser instincts as a predator take over and the flames consumed everything, her body, her mind, the forest, and Amaimon too. Rin couldn't remember anything past that and only woke up when Mephisto shook her awake on a bridge somewhere away from the burning forest.

She looked around groggily, not really registering where she was or what must have happened for a moment. "Wake up, Dear, you must defend yourself." Mephisto muttered to her. She finally got her vision to focus on whoever was in front of them: a man in a white dress with long blonde hair that looked like it belonged on a Barbie doll. His expression was one of complete disgust and contempt and he was holding a sword that made it seem like the guy was trying to compensate for something. She fought the urge to say something witty like "So is that sword making up for something or are you just an obnoxious prick?"

She also realized that her clothes were torn to shreds and she might as well have been in her bra and panties for all her shredded uniform covered her. She yelped and covered herself, turning away from the men. "You really must stop ruining your clothes, Dear. This is bordering on several counts of public indecency." Mephisto sighed, completely ignoring the heavy atmosphere. He snapped his fingers and Rin was proofed into a white and black striped shirt and shorts. They were a comfy material and covered what needed to be covered, at least. "Do I owe you for the clothes you keep giving me, or are these actually free?" She asked Mephisto suspiciously.

The clown grimaced. "Your clothes keep getting destroyed and I'd rather not have to keep spending money on so much laundry detergent so you can wash your three outfits, Dear. Think of them as compensation for the lack of wardrobe." He told her. Yeah, there was definitely judgement in his voice. He was replacing Rin's ratty hand-me-downs with brand new stuff because he hated looking at her clothes from the monastery. That was embarrassing.

Rin sighed and nodded, catching sight of her classmates. She knew what their faces would look like. She couldn't face them. Rin turned away from them, trying to ignore the scorn and disgust and betrayal that would surely be on her former-friends' faces. Yukio tried to catch her eye to give her a reassuring look, but Rin refused to look towards her class. He frowned and sighed, leading the class to the infirmary while he watched his sister get dragged away from him by Arthur August Angel–the prejudiced Paladin who hated anything demonic that wasn't his own sword.


	15. The Tea Has Been Spilled

"What the _hell_ is _Satan's daughter_ doing in the Academy?!" Suguro demanded once everyone was properly bandaged up. Yukio sighed, a forlorn look on his face.

"Please, don't judge my sister by her parentage. She's here because she's trying to right Satan's wrongs. All she wants is to love. She'll never have a normal life, but if she can take Satan out, she can have a chance at a decent life." He told them.

"You really expect us to believe she just wants to live like a human?" Konekomeru asked shakily. Yukio gave him a deadpan look. The shaking in fear act was getting old. This kid needed to grow some backbone.

"Mr. Miwa, a person's personality is not determined by who their parents are. It is determined by their experiences in life and how they are raised. My sister has suffered a lot and I let it happen, so I'm not blameless in this case either. But I'm telling you, here and now, that all Rin wants is a life worth living. If you can't deal, _just don't try_. Rin doesn't need anything else on her plate right now." He said calmly. His voice had turned cold at the end.

"You're her twin right? What about you?" Kamiki questioned. She didn't sound scared or disgusted or even betrayed, just curious. "I was weak in the womb, so I ended up totally human. I take a test every day, but it has never changed. Rin got all the powers to herself and is the only one acknowledged by anything from Gehenna between the two of us." He answered.

"Why didn't she tell us?" Suguro asked, his voice unusually strained. He almost sounded hurt. Yukio shook his head. "Suguro, how could she ever tell you something like this? She was told if anyone found out about her father, she'd be hunted down and killed like an animal just for being alive. If you didn't notice, she was just taken away by the _Paladin._ " Yukio took a deep breath and released it shakily. "I can only hope she's able to bargain for her life well enough against the Grigori."

"As for how she grew up, Rin was raised as a human until a week before school began. She was sealed inside a demon-slaying sword to make her seem human. She was ways abnormally strong and sometimes got sensory overload from her enhances senses, but aside from that, she was just like you all. Satan finally found her a week before school began and Rin had to unseal herself to save herself and our adoptive father. She's new to all of this. Don't judge her too harshly for not knowing how to handle this situation."

Shiemi felt the sting of betrayal in her chest fade some. Rin was just scared. She'd told Shiemi that she'd never had friends before. How could she tell her first ever friends a secret so terrifying? It still hurt that neither Rin nor Yukio had ever told her, but she wasn't mad at them for it at least.

Suguro, on the other hand, just felt the betrayal stab into him more. He knew he'd been terrible to Rin not too long ago, but recently, they'd gotten along great. Hell, they'd even flirted a little! He'd never enjoyed someone else's company more than he enjoyed Rin's. She was fun, and a cute dork, and brave, and fiery.

Fiery like Satan, probably. Demons were made to kill, steal, destroy, and deceive. Even if she was only half-Satan, wasn't that enough for her to be like him? For her to be loyal to him because he was the only one that was anything like her?

Rin seemed so human though. So human it hurt sometimes. She was tough on the outside, all witty commentary, sarcastic comebacks, and in possession of a wellspring of knowledge on how to put people in their places. That didn't come from an easy childhood, but that was just all the more reason for her to turn on humanity.

But on the inside, Rin was soft. It was rare for her to show it, but whenever she was with Shiemi, she let her guard down, just a little. She spoke in soft tones and laughed and smiled genuinely at the girl. She reflected Shiemi's softness back at her easily, like that softness was something real, though it was deep down inside where it could be protected by the brashness of her defensive personality.

Suguro had thought about Rin more than he'd care to admit. He thought he knew her decently and that she was a pretty open person. But when he looked back at all the conversations Rin had been involved in, she'd avoided answering specific things or changed the subject so smoothly that it didn't look like she was doing it. She also usually pulled that anxious, embarrassed expression to make them see that she didn't like talking about that particular subject so they'd willingly move on to keep from offending her. She was a natural!

Why could she manipulate conversations that easily? If she was that good at it now, what made her need that skill in the past? Too many questions and only a few answers. It wasn't like he could ask her about it, he couldn't trust anything she said now.

And her twin was even in on it too! Their own _teacher!_ He was trying to make Rin sound innocent and blameless, but she had to have done _something_ bad in the past to be how she was now. She was rough and manipulative and dangerous. Suguro had flirted with that danger, _oh God._ He'd _liked_ that danger. Up until now, that is.

He groaned as he tried to fall asleep in his cot between Shima(who had a few bruised ribs and one fractured), and Konekomeru(who's arm was broken and put in a cast and sling).


	16. Hoes Mad

The room Rin was dragged to was a large courtroom, ringed with balconies filled with Exorcists in black coats, all staring down at her. The symbol of the True Cross Order was on the floor while the high domed ceiling of the courtroom had a mosaic of the Archangels fighting what Rin assumed to be the Demon Kings. She recognized Amaimon and Astaroth there. Curiously enough, she also made out what looked suspiciously like Mephisto, his power represented by a mosaic glowing clock in his hand. He was a Demon King, huh? _Shoulda known that bastard was a Demon King._

Two staircases led to a balcony where three heavily robed people sat. Rin figured they'd be the ones deciding her fate today. Another set of stairs(there were a lot of stairs in this room)led up to a platform, probably for the accused to stand to talk to the judges. Mephisto made his way up the stairs with all the confidence and finesse in the world. Rin was almost jealous. She'd never be that graceful. But if he really was a Demon King, he'd had thousands of years to practice, so that was fair.

Rin was set on her feet in the center of the room. "Kneel." The asshole who'd carried her there ordered gruffly. When she didn't do it fast enough, he kicked her in the back and forced his sword through her left leg. Rin screamed and heard Shura yelling at the man. Rin didn't really catch the while interaction, she was more focused on the pain shooting through her leg, which wanted to give out. She caught herself on her hands on the floor as she gritted her teeth through the pain. She caught the wannabe Barbie saying that this was to make her behave. 

"All I've done is behave, you _stinking pile of rat shit._ " She gritted out at him with a growl. "Quiet, _filth!_ " The man retorted. _What kind of_ _entitled_ _French pretty boy-?!_ "Hey, _Barbie,_ who the _fuck_ told you that you could call me anything but my _name?!_ " She hissed. Consequences be damned, this day was getting shittier and shittier by the second.

The judge called order to the court. 

"The accused to the witness stand." Mephisto was already there, patiently waiting with an amused smile on his face, as always. 

"The castigation and interrogation of the accused, the head of the Japanese Branch of the Holy Knights of the True Cross Order, Mephisto Pheles, is now an open court! The examiners are myself, Timote Timowas, the director and enforcer of the Knights of the True Cross Order, and the acting Paladin, Arthur August Angel, an upper first class senior exorcist and trusted Arc Knight. As well as Grigori's Knights of the True Cross supreme advisors acting as overseers. I'd like the court to look at an image of what just happened at one of the True Cross Academy campus forests used for training ExWires." Rin wasn't listening to all that, way too many long titles. She'd just keep calling the judge Tim and Arthur A. Angel(that was a seriously over-the-top fancy rich boy name)Barbie.

  
Tim held up a screen for the whole court to see. A surprisingly HD picture of Rin was shown. God, had she really looked like that? She looked like a feral model who'd been living in the wilderness for a month.

Rin stood on the edge of a rock outcropping over Amaimon in the brush below(off screen). Her clothes were torn and bloodied, her hair was blowing wildly in the wind, her tail in a curved position behind her, the tip of it glowing blue. Horns made of blue flames flickered on her forehead. She was baring her teeth in a vicious snarl, looking down at Amaimon like he was the dirt underneath her boots. She glowed with eerie blue fire all around her in a bright explosion, lighting up the night as it slowly became day.

In a way, she looked beautiful–like a demon warrior princess come to destroy her enemies.

Rin grimaced at the image and looked away. "Sir Pheles, that is the same thing as this demon presented to us, correct?" Tim clarified. "Yes." Mephisto agreed easily. "Then I will ask you bluntly: Is that demon Satan's spawn?"

"Yes she is. Now is not the time for excuses." Mephisto agreed calmly. "So in other words," One of the robed overseers cut in. "Fifteen years ago, when former Paladin Shiro Fujimoto claimed to have killed the child of Satan and middle-first class Exorcist Yuri Egin, that report was false?" So that was Rin's mother's name? Shiro would never tell her. He would only ever tell her how much she looked like her mother. He'd only ever told Rin that one thing about her and Yukio's mother. Yukio had always been the one who dangerously was curious about their parents. Rin had never really wanted to know. Shiro was the one raising them, so it didn't matter, did it?

"Yes." Mephisto agreed. "She gave birth to twins, actually. The elder was a baby girl that glowed with Satan's flame. The younger was a sickly baby boy who was stillborn before he was revived. The boy did not inherit Satan's flames. This young lady is the sole heir to Satan's blue flames." He gestured to Rin on the floor. "Had we left her there, she surely would have been taken in by a messenger of Satan and raised to become a weapon of mass destruction for her father." Gasps were heard around the room. Rin rolled her eyes. It wasn't that hard to figure out, honestly, get a grip people.

"Miss Rin here is very special, you see. She has a demon heart, which is the source of her power that I sealed away in the sword Kurikara when she was a newborn. But her body is a physical and almost completely human body here in Assiah. She is a mix of demon and human-a Nephilim. She was raised as a human by the late Paladin Shiro Fujimoto on my orders." Mephisto explained. 

"What exactly were your orders, Pheles?" Tim asked warily. Rin felt that foreboding feeling, like she really wouldn't like what Mephisto said next. She shifted nervously before being painfully reminded of the sword through her leg.

"To raise the daughter of Satan as a weapon for the Order. She was raised as a human, with humans, while she also grew up learning how to fight all on her own without intervention or anyone going home in a body bag. I _will_ admit that Shiro Fujimoto did not agree with this plan, but he went along with it on my orders. This plan has been going splendidly so far. Though, she is only a baby to demons, so she still has much to learn. Instead of immediate execution, I propose a wager!" Cold, hard betrayal shot through Rin like daggers of ice stabbing into her heart and she forgot to breathe for a moment. 

Shiro had only raised her to be a weapon. But because she was always fighting, she practically did his job for him while he raised Yukio to also be a weapon for the Order. Shiro had acted like their father at those rare times to get them to listen to him and think they loved him. Rin and Yukio never would have suspected the man of faking loving them if it wasn't brought to light. 

He'd played them. He'd _used_ them! Rin felt dirty. Her whole life was a lie. The only people willing to tell her the truth were Yukio and Mephisto. Her twin who had completely ignored her existence like she didn't matter up until a week and a half ago when she confronted him about it and an apparent Demon King who'd been the one to give Shiro the order to raise her as a weapon for the Order. 

Rin felt sick and cold and sad and heartbroken. Why did she have to _fight_ to live every day of her life without regretting choosing to live and making her own path of becoming an Exorcist to kick Satan's ass? Why did she have to try so hard just to live and not regret breathing?

Shura watched Rin spiral into her own negative thoughts as she kneeled there on the courtroom floor like she was less than everyone else in the room. Like she wasn't worthy of standing like a person with rights. Shura hated everything happening in this moment. She knew that look. She'd seen it on herself plenty of times in the past before deciding to just be her own person without caring what anyone else decided for her. 

"This daughter of Satan will one day be strong enough to defeat her father and free us all from his cruel reign! Will she choose to become a Demon King? Or will she choose to be Assiah's savior? If you take this wager, you must follow it through to the end. No taking it back." Mephisto gestured grandly with his hands like the elegant and arrogant bastard he was, not even seeing how he'd just shattered the very girl he was betting on. Shura shook her head. This was cruel. But it was the only way to save Rin. She'd actually gotten fond of the other girl Shiro had raised. 

"Don't let yourselves be fooled by this Charlatan!" Arthur A. Angel spat angrily. "Don't tell me you have forgotten his lineage! His kind specializes in smooth-talking people with that silver tongue! He conspired with Shiro Fujimoto to bring up Satan's spawn! This is an undeniable fact! He must have been intending to deceive the Holy Knights of the True Cross and usurp us from the inside! If you believe his words, you'll have fallen for his deceit!" He seemed pretty passionate about this. He was blinded by his hatred of demons to really see the opportunities this wager would give them all. 

Rin heard noise rise from the balconies. People both agreeing and disagreeing with the Paladin. They called down and someone cried out to take Mephisto down. Wasn't this trial about Rin? Wasn't this her time to plead for her own life? She refused to be silenced and let this asshole clown talk for her.

"ALL OF YOU, SHUT UP!!" The whole court went dead silent. 

"My name is Rin Okumura! I am the daughter of Satan, but I never asked to be! I don't give a shit what you want me to be, it's not your choice! It's _mine!_ I won't belong to you like some piece of property! I will become your weapon to defeat Satan and right all his wrongs! If you _ever_ treat me as anything less than human, I _will not_ cooperate and I _will not_ help you to win the war against my father! I will watch him burn all of you to the ground!" Rin wouldn't be docile. She was her own person. She belonged to herself and she would fight for her own purposes. These assholes were just lucky she could use their training to get a head start on defeating Satan.

"So take this wager or watch me walk out of here with your only chance of winning the war!" She finished her piece with a determined glare up at the three robed overseers.

  
The courtroom was silent as they turned and discussed among themselves. It felt like it took an incredibly long time, but it was probably five minutes at most that they all waited with bated breath for the decision to be made.

The three robed overseers turned back to face the court.

"We will take this Wager, with conditions! Rin Okumura, daughter of Satan, you will complete the Exorcist Qualification Exam the first time you take it with your classmates. If you pass, you will be made an Exorcist and join our ranks. You will be specially trained and we will gladly accept your aid to defeat Satan in this war. Until you take the Exorcist Qualification Exam, we will have a cuff on your tail as a security measure in case you get out of control again. If you fail the Exam, you will be locked up in our dungeon to keep you with us as we burn in your father's flames if we fall. Are these terms acceptable?" The middle figure announced.

"I accept. The Captain should always go down with the ship." Rin gave a smirk. Naming herself the Captain of this metaphorical ship was placing herself higher in rank than anyone in the room and they would all hate that. She saw all the faces contort into anger, disgust, irritation, or just shock. It was a glorious sight.

The sword was finally pulled free of her leg and Rin had to wait for her leg to reattach before she stood as tall as she could, chin up as she looked around the court, daring anyone to object.

"You, Satan's filthy spawn, being treated as anything more than trash? That's quite a sad joke, isn't it?" Angel sneered. "At least it's a better joke then your _outfit,_ Barbie." Rin snapped back immediately. Angel gaped, his face turning an ugly shade of red. He was about to say something else, but he was stopped. "Angel, _you will hold your tongue!_ This Deal is final and you will say nothing more of it!" Tim scolded. Angel looked very unhappy about it, but he nodded. Shura had a hand slapped over her mouth to hold back her laughter from her place next to the angry Paladin.

The deal was finalized on paper and Rin and Mephisto were free to go after Rin had a gold cuff put around the base of her tail. Rin was mostly relieved she'd had the guts to stand up for herself and make her own deal instead of letting this bitch clown make it for her and give her a shit hand to play cards with. 

Mephisto knew she was relieved and also very tired. He was very impressed by her show of assertiveness, which was why he should've seen the slap coming. 

"One–fuck you, don't you _ever_ try to speak for me again. Two–you better know what you're doing here because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna end up fucking up all your plans. Three–What are you the King of? You were in that mosaic, don't try to tell me that wasn't you, you purple haired bastard." She growled out. Mephisto put his hands up in surrender. He quite liked feisty women. They made life more interesting. Rin may have been kind of an idiot, but she at least knew what she wanted.

"My true name is Samael, the Demon King of Time and Space and third most powerful in the Gehennan heirarchy, beat in power only by Lucifer, Demon King of Light, and Satan himself. Are you satisfied with that answer, Dear?" He grinned at her. Rin hummed. "I guess."

Shura joined them then and pulled Rin into an affectionate headlock, ruffling Rin's already-messy hair. "Hey what's this for?!" Rin complained. "You did great, kid! I'm proud of you. You're already a lot better than I was at your age. You have great potential too. So, I've decided to become your Swordmaster." The woman explained nonchalantly. 

Rin looked at her, surprised. "Seriously?! You're gonna help me?!" The relief was evident in her voice and on her face. She'd been flying blind since she'd gotten Kurikara, poor girl. "To be specific, I'll be teaching you my ancestor's style of sword techniques and helping you channel your flames through your sword. Don't expect me to go easy on you, though." The woman said. Rin nodded. "No one ever got anything done by crying anyways. I can take it." She agreed seriously. 

"Well, wasn't this just a wonderful morning? Aren't you glad it's break, Rin? You get to go relax at your dorm for now. Good day~☆" Mephisto snapped his fingers, delivered Rin to her dorm, and snapped away. 

All she wanted to do was sleep, but Rin knew she needed to tell Yukio everything that had just happened, so she trudged upstairs to tell her brother of the deal she'd made with the True Cross Order before crashing on the unused bed across from Yukio's, too tired to go upstairs to sleep in her own bed.

Yukio went to her room to get her a blanket and draped it over her carefully. Then, he turned out the light and went to sleep himself, watching his sister's unmoving form, save for her steady breathing.


	17. Left Eye of the Impure King

Rin took deep breaths, standing outside the Cram School classroom door. Her former friends were in there. She wondered if they'd ignore her existence of bully her. She was used to both from people before highschool, but that didn't make it any better. In fact, it was worse, because these people had been her friends days ago and now they probably hated her guts.

Rin braced herself and opened the door. She didn't bother standing and waiting for reactions, she just went to her seat in the front of the classroom and sat down. Shiemi wasn't next to her. Shiemi was actually a seat away from her, like Rin was some kind of poison. That stung, but it was expected. Everyone hated Satan and they were bound to hate Rin for being his daughter, regardless if she was on humanity's side or not.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by someone calling her name. She looked at the door to see Yukio and Shura there. “You’ll be taught a different curriculum now, so come with us." He left the others with Mr. Yunokawa and apologized for interrupting everyone as they left the room.

“You're training to pass the exam, but you need training with your sword and your flames. Since you're failing a few classes in Cram School, it's clear you won't need them if you're going for more physical Meisters, so we replaced them.” Yukio told her as he and Shura led her down the halls of the Cram School. "So you have different classes with Shura and I rather than your previous classes." 

“Nice, but I really wanted to talk to them properly.” Rin complained. “And what was with Shiemi? Does she hate me now or something?" Yukio sighed and offered a sympathetic look. "She's mad at me too. For keeping that secret the whole time we've known each other."

"Jeez, aren't you a couple o' sad sacks today? I don't think that girl can stay angry for long, she doesn't have it in her. As for the rest of the class, you're going to have to earn their respect back. For now, just pretend it doesn't affect you. Act like you don't need them and then see what they do when you're not there when they wish you were." Shura coached. "Since when are _you_ an expert on friendship?" Yukio wondered. Shura huffed indugnantly, slapping his shoulder. "I had a few friends before, y'know!"

They entered what appeared to be a training room. It was packed with equipment for all kinds of things and it was huge. “We’ve reserved this training room for you.” Yukio said. Shura walked over to a large lumpy bag sat in the corner and brought it over to the twins.

“First, we’re gonna get you to master those flames. What I’ve got here,” She opened the bag to reveal.... candles? "Will help you."

“Candles?” Rin furrowed her brow in confusion. “Yup! I'll set up three and I want you to light the wicks of the two on the ends at the same time.” The woman explained.

Rin sighed and sat on the floor as Shura set up the three candles. This seemed like it should be simple, but knowing Rin, she'd botch it horribly.  
Rin stared at the wicks if the candles. Just the wicks, just the wicks, it's simple. _I can do this, I know I can._

Blue fire flared up from the candles and melted them all into one. Rin sighed. "This is probably gonna be a while." She grumbled, preparing herself to sit in that spot all day and possibly many more days before she got the hang of being more precise with her flames.

While Rin tried again and again and again, melting every single candle, Shura and Yukio did their own training. They went into the caged off area that had what looked like one of those tennis ball shooters. It did, in fact, shoot balls. At super fast speed, too. They set it on Infinite Mode and made a bet so the loser bought dinner for the winner.

That looked a thousand times more fun than Rin's training, but she kept at it until she felt like tearing her hair out, screaming until her throat was raw, and crying at the same time. She groaned, flopping backwards onto the floor, heaving a disappointed sigh.

She sat up when she heard Yukio's phone ring. He answered it with his usual "This is Okumura speaking." Rin and Shura listened carefully when he put it on speaker.

"A corner of an old dormitory has been polluted by coal tars. Some civilians have been infected with miasma. One person has been severely affected by a mashou.”

"What’s the cause?” Shura asked after he hung up.

“Unknown. For the time being, anyone with a Doctor Meister is gathering. Shura, you're a Doctor as well, aren't you?” Yukio recalled. The woman groaned, but nodded. "Yeah." She turned to Rin. "Alright kid, saddle up. We're goin' on a mission and you gotta come with us because they want you to have guards just in case." Shura said. "Better than these fucking candles." Rin gave the melted wax on the floor a dirty look. Shura cackled before pulling her along. 

§~•~§~•~§

There was an Exorcist trying to deter civilians from the scene of the miasma at the caution tape.

“Lets hope this goes quickly, it's so hot….” Shura fanned herself. "Shura, you’re in a bikini top and booty shorts, you'll be fine." Rin rolled her eyes while the woman pouted.

Yukio stepped up to the caution tape. He flashed his Exorcist ID and the man at the tape nodded. “Thanks for coming, Okumura.” The man thanked. Shura flashed her ID card and told the man that Rin was undergoing special field training. They were all let into the taped off area.

A middle-aged man came up to them. He had the uniform and pin, so he was obviously a senior Exorcist. “Sorry I took so long. Middle First Class, Yukio Okumura.” He shook hands with the man. “Upper First Class Kirigakure.” Shura offered.

“Saburota Todou, Upper Second Class and Director of the Deep Keep.” The man introduced himself. “Who’s the kid?”

“Rin Okumura, ExWire.” Rin answered.

His eyes widened in terror. Apparently Rin was now famous after the trial. “You!” He cried. “Is she safe?” He looked urgently to Shura and Yukio. Rin rolled her eyes. "Excuse you, _I'll_ tell you if I'm safe or not. If you know about the trial, you already know what's up, so don't go treating me like some monster. I said I'd fight _with_ True Cross, not against it." Rin told him crossly. She was proud of herself for not faltering or sounding too stupid as she said her piece.

“We’d like an explanation. What exactly is going on here and who is in charge?” Yukio changed the subject before things got out of hand. “I'm the one in charge.” Todou admitted. He looked very meek and nervous. Pretty sad for the director of something that sounded important.

"What started this whole incident is the theft of the Left Eye of the Impure King. The thief escaped with a small child into a nearby building that we are trying to get into without having it collapse. There are a total of thirty-one people, including civilians, infected by miasma. There aren’t enough doctors to cure them all." Todou explained. "The child taken was exposed to a high concentration of miasma. He was most likely killed instantly." He was frowning deeply at the thought.

“About this masked guy you mentioned, is he strong or just sneaky like a weasel?” Shura questioned. "We can't exactly tell. They were able to avoid engaging several Exorcists due to the element of surprise they had. They haven't attacked yet, only run away. It could be a human or a demon, but they're covered completely." Todou sighed tiredly.

“Well at any rate, we need to hurry. Kirigakure and I will–" A woman interrupted him, desperately pleading that they bring her son back. She must have been the mother of the poor kid who got snatched.

“Please, _please_ save my son! He's a strong boy, he's still alive, I know it!" She begged them, grasping Rin's wrists. "We're doing what we can, Miss, but we gotta be careful." Shura said gruffly. “We're doing the best we can to save your son, but that building is old and damaged. I swear we'll do everything we can, Ma'am." Rin promised in a much nicer tone.

Rin was then pushed aside by Yukio, who told the mother that there was no guarantee for the safety of her son, in which case she needed to be prepared for the worst. Stone fucking cold and with no sympathy whatsoever. Rin wanted to hit him as the woman almost collapsed into tears against her. "We'll bring you his body." Shura added. Rin gave her an incredulous look. She made a mental note to hit both of them later after this mission. That was unnecessary and cruel. Yukio could've at least had some tact and pretended he cared about a possibly dead child never coming home to his mother alive. And Shura added that they'd give her the body like they weren't talking about a child!

Yukio ordered Rin to stay behind with Shura, then prepared to go into the rickety building. He and Todou both put on bright yellow hazmat suits, as well as a couple others. One carried a canary in a cage with them. Rin had a bad feeling about that ran, fo some reason. It was a hunch, but she'd learned to always trust her gut with things.

Rin made her way into the crowd of Exorcists attending the sick and was able to lose Shura just in time to slip through the closing door of the old dorm building behind the team of Exorcists.

She didn't need a hazmat suit, the same miasma from Astaroth on the worst day of her life had permeated the wrecked monastery and it hadn't affected Rin at all. She figured whatever was causing this miasma was related to Astaroth, the trash bastard.

Rin got the backstory in the Left Eye of the Impure King while she silently followed behind the Exorcists.

About 140 years ago, a demon spread a plague that killed over 40,000 humans. The demon's eyes were ripped out after it was subdued by some legendary demon hunter, but the eyes still omitted miasma, so they were sealed away seprately. The left eye was kept in Tokyo and the right eye was kept in another secret location somewhere. Only Mephisto and the higher ups knew where the right eye was hidden.

“So what's the bird for?” Rin wondered.

“It’s a canary. It’s constantly singing. It will stop singing once it senses miasma. Coal miners used to do the same thing to tell if the mine was toxic or not." One of the Exorcists answered. "Ah, that's useful."

It took the group a minute to realize who they were talking to and Rin snorted at their surprised faces as they froze and turned to her.

“Rin!” Yukio groaned in exasperation. “Why are you here?! Where’s Shura?!”

“I ditched her. Sorry lil' bro, but I had a bad feeling about this, so I came along." She shrugged a shoulder and took the canary cage from the Exorcist next to her. The other Exorcist she didn't know blanched. "She's your older sister?!"

"This is my _twin_ sister, so it doesn't really matter. She's training to be an Exorcist, but she's terrible at bookwork, so we're teaching her practically. Please don't mind her." Yukio glared at her and she smiled back.

They walked a little further before everything went dead silent and Rin pulled one exorcist back by his suit as a robed and masked figure swiped at him. A little boy was a little ways down the hallway from them with the thief blocking the way to him. Rin growled. The boy had gross, bulbous boils all over his face and arms and he looked really pale.

“The kid’s still alive!” Rin heard Todou gasp. “He’s in critical condition, we have to hurry!” Yukio pointed out urgently. The masked figure went to move, but Yukio had his guns out and safeties off in a second. "Take one more step and I’ll shoot!”

In response, the figure disappeared into thin air. The container holfing what must have been the Left Eye fell to the ground and shattered. Miasma spilled from it in thick waves and even Rin had to cough some.

She ran to the child without hesitation, cradling him to her. He moaned and his eyes fluttered some. "Mama?" He whispered hoarsely. "We're gonna get you back to your Mama as soon as we heal you, okay kiddo?" Rin told him softly. He snuggled more into her arms and she looked up at a noise from her twin. He was holding the eye.

“It’s fake?” He muttered in confusion. Rin saw the other two Exorcists knocked out behind her twin and before she could warn him that something was up, he was attacked from behind and shoved to the ground by none other than Saburota Todou.

“I _knew_ you were suspicious!" Rin growled to herself. Todou seemed to have forgotten she was there. The demon man ripped the hazmat suit off his body, revealing a more demonic form underneath. He had some sort of independent shadow following him around.

“Rin! There’s no time to lose! Hurry up and get that kid outside!” Yukio called.

Rin obediently ran past them with the boy. Or, she tried to, but had to stop. Todou sent his shadow thing after her and stopped her. She held the boy tight to her protectively.

“Oh dear. I can’t let you do that, Miss Okumura.” Todou tutted. “Try me!" Rin willed her flames to manifest around them to keep the shadow away, careful not to touch the boy with the fire. She didn't wanna burn him on top of his infection. "Rin, be careful!" Yukio told her. “Your opponent is _me!_ ” Todou snarled, lashing out. He managed to pin Yukio to the ground under him.

The boy in Rin's arms cried out and squirmed uncomfortably. "Shh, shh, it's okay, I'm gonna get you outta here buddy." She whispered to him, running away from Todou and her twin. She creeped by them, warding off the shadow with her fire at her back.

Suddenly, a quiet alarm rang out. “That’s my cue.” Toudo said, standing up. "It’s time for me to make my leave.” The asshole literally _melted_ into the shadows. Rin cursed and extinguished her flames, running back to her brother. She laid the little boy between them and Yukio got to work immediately.

Yukio huffed in irritation and ripped off the top part of his hazmat suit. “We’ll have to deal with it here!” He was in doctor-mode. “Are you okay being exposed to the miasma like this? Is there any way I can help?” Rin fretted. "Hold him down." Yukio ordered and Rin did so, glad for something to do. She hated being useless in these situations.

He carefully injected the vaccine into each individual boil on the boy's arms, though he was having a difficult time keeping his hands steady. He cursed and stabbed one vaccine into his own arm before continuing to treat the little boy. Finally, he sat back with a sigh and Rin sighed in relief. Yukio picked the boy up and Rin grabbed the two other Exorcists who'd been knocked out and they walked out of the building with Yukio.

Rin left the two men to Doctors outside the building and took the boy from Yukio. Yukio really didn't know how to hold kids. She grumbled to herself as she adjusted the boy in her grip so he'd be comfy.

The boy's mother met them at the entrance and gave a sob of relief as Rin gave her the boy. She cradled him close to her chest and murmured words to him as he stirred. Rin and Yukio both shifted uncomfortably, not knowing how to leave without seeming rude. The woman stood and hugged both of them. "Thank you both! You brought my Satoru back to me safe and sound! I'm forever in your debt!" She thanked them, tears still pouring down her face. The twins stood there stiffly, Rin patting the woman's back awkwardly. "No problem, ma'am." Yukio said.

When everything was taken care of, Rin and Yukio had rejoined with Shura. The woman batted Rin on the head. "That's for ditchin' me!" She yelled angrily. Rin recalled wanting to hit Shura and Yukio for something earlier and then remembered the way they'd both handled the desperate mother earlier. She turned and served them both bitch slaps to the face in one turn.

"Hey, what gives?!" Shura sputtered indignantly. Yukio just looked resigned. "I think she's mad at how we handled the mother earlier when we told her we might not be able to save her son." He remembered Rin's eyes boring holes through his skull as he talked to the mother.

"Damn straight! You could've at least acted like you had hearts instead of ripping hers out!" She growled. They at least had the decency to look scolded.

Yukio's phone rang and he answered with his usual greeting. Then he sighed tiredly. "I am being sent to retrieve the real Left Eye with a team. Shura, the you are going with some Exorcists and the ExWires to Kyoto to deal with some issues there. Please watch Rin." He explained. Before he could walk away and use his key to get to wherever he needed to report to, Rin hugged him.

She remembered how easily he got sick when they were kids and how easily that Miasma in the building had affected him minutes ago. If he got taken out hunting down this Left Eye, she'd only have her fake father left as family.

"Please be careful. I mean it, Yuki. You used to get sick way too easy and I can't have you leaving me." She said, laying her head on his shoulder. "Love you, Rin. I promise I'll be careful." Yukio murmured. "Love you too, Yuki. Go show everyone why you're the youngest Exorcist, okay?" She smiled and let him go.

Rin and Shura went to the Dorm first to pack Rin's things for the trip, then they went to Shura's apartment to both eat dinner and pack Shura's things into a bag. Then they were off to the train station.


	18. Rin Is Babey

Shura stuck Rin in an empty car on the train and left to go check on other cars full of Exorcists and supplies they'd be bringing to Kyoto with them.

Rin had bought up a small book on Tourist Attractions in Kyoto and was browsing through it contentedly with Rodan resting against her chest and also making comments once in a while(Kuro was with Yukio on his mission to retrieve the Left Eye). She kept looking around to make sure no one was around to hear her before talking to him in the demon language. He always enjoyed listening to her speak in it. She'd asked why once and he'd said that it made him glad she had a connection to her homeland and him.

Rodan liked to read about how long the tourist attractions had been around. It interested him to know about temporary things humans built actually staying for longer than one human's life span, impressed him even. " **They can't hold relationships with each other for entire lifetimes, but at least their art lasts. Art is something you aim to keep around, so people recognize your talent and there is physical piece of you left in the world.** " Rodan said thoughtfully.

He was very smart for a hatchling that had hatched not long before Fin summoned him in the beginning of the school year. He absorbed information very well and so stones, when he knew Rin was worried, he would perch on her back and look over her shoulder at her test answers. He nip her ear if she got one wrong and she could try to correct it. He wouldn't do it a second time if she got it wrong again because he knew she needed to learn things on her own. None of her classmates could see demons, so it never caused any racket, thankfully.

Rin was reading about the Kyoto Tower and mentally bookmarking it for whenever she got the chance to visit it when the first of her classmates entered the train car. She stopped speaking to Rodan in demon and kept her mouth shut as the Kyoto Trio all filled the doorway, staring at her. She ignored them and kept reading about tourist attractions in Kyoto. Rodan broke the silence with an irritated screech at the boys, who just stood there staring at the half-demon. They all flinched and made their way to the row of seats behind Rin.

She sighed. The whole car was empty and they sat directly behind her? Were they _wanting_ her to punch them when they inevitably insulted her for existing? "If you're gonna sit there, none of you are allowed to shit talk me. You chose those seats and now you gotta reap what you sow, so either move and shit talk me from across the car or stay there and stay quiet." She said without looking up from her pamphlet. Rodan backed her up with a huff of hot air directed at the boys, glaring at them with his slitted yellow-orange eyes. No one said anything.

It was silent once more, except now it was a tense silence that irritated Rin to no end. She shouldn't have hoped for them to want to be her friends again, it to even talk to her. But awkwardness and a tense atmosphere couldn't get them to talk to her, so she just sighed and acted like she was still interested in temples in Kyoto.

Shiemi came in next. Rin barely spared her a glance and didn't notice the frown on the girl's face. Rin was acting cold, like her brother did most of the time. Cold and neutral to the situation at hand. It didn't fit her. But Shiemi supposed that Rin's silence also spoke volumes. If her former friends wouldn't talk to her, they'd just sit in tense silence until they got to Kyoto. The rest of the class had to make the first move here because Rin did nothing wrong.

But Shiemi didn't know what to say after seeing how crestfallen and resigned to losing all her friends Rin was the night of the trial. Like it was so etching new that actually hurt, but she expected it and knew there was nothing she could do to get them to trust her anymore. Shiemi still trusted Rin, she just wished had trusted her with such a huge secret.

Takara entered the car silently and still, no one said anything.

Finally, someone plopped down in the seat next to Rin in a huff and Rin knew exactly who that was. She stated at the girl in bewilderment until Izumo finally snapped at her. “Did you need something?"

Rin blinked in surprise. "Uh....No, sorry. I just thought everyone would sit like, five seats away from me in every direction. Course that didn't stop _them,_ but they're still avoiding me even though they sat so close." She jerked a thumb at the Kyoto boys, who blanched or cowered (Suguro and Konekomeru.) Shima seemed chill, uncaring of what as happening outside of the game he was playing on his phone.

“Everyone give me your attention please!” Shura called from the front of the car. “I’ve been made the captain of the reinforcement squad for this mission, unfortunately. My name is Shura Kirigakure, Senior Exorcist. First things first–Satou from the intelligence division, is gonna explain the current situation to you.”

“What?! Ah, jeez.” Satou sighed. He took Shura's place in the front fo the car. “On the 22nd of July, at approximately 1:20 PM, the Left Eye of the Impure King that was sealed in the Deep Keep, was stolen by a thief. Recently, the former Director of the Deep Keep, Upper Second Class Exorcist Saburota Todou, aided this thief. Unfortunately, we have no leads on him or what he plans to do with the Left Eye, so we must remain vigilant.”

“That’s right. At the exact same time, the inner recesses of the Kyoto Branch Office far out in the west also came under attack by someone. The crime was thwarted, but what they were aiming for was obviously the Right Eye of the Impure King.” Shura put in at the end.

“Excuse me, but what are these Eyes of the Impure King? We never learned about this in class.” Kamiki pointed out, somewhat irritated that she had only half an idea of what was happening. "Oh, sorry. The Impure King is a child of Astaroth and though it isn't considered a major threat, the stories of it aren't exactly rainbows and puppies." She sighed.

“In the last years of the Edo period, around the fifth year of the Ansei Era, a demon called the Impure King was an upper class demon that spread of sickness and epidemics, and believed to be the root cause of over 40,000 deaths. The Right Eye and Left Eye were said to have been removed and taken by a monk named Fukaku when he suppressed the Impure King, as evidence that he had done so. Although they are just eyes, they give off a very strong miasma and are extremely dangerous items. They were kept sealed in secret locations until now to keep the Impure King from rising again and spreading illness across the world. I will be investigating with a team at the Branch Office. I will leave some doctors where we're staying and you ExWires will help however you can." Shura explained, not going into a ton of detail and annoying the two resident geniuses in the class.

The train ride continued in silence once Shura laid down for a nap. No one dared wake her.

Rin couldn't stand long silences and sighed, readjusting herself in her seat for probably the fiftieth time in an hour. She finally broke the silence by talking to Kamiki. "You're seriously not gonna avoid me like everyone else?" She wondered.

"Pffft, why? I'm not scared of you and no one else should be. You never hurt anyone before and you're still not doing it, so what's the point?" Kamiki scoffed. "There are a lot of Exorcists descended from demons, including myself. It's just the fact that you're Satan's daughter that bothers them so much."

Rin blinked, not expecting an explanation. "That's just hypocritical! Mephisto is a full blooded demon and they trust him more than they trust me even though humans think he's Satan's kid too." She groused, pouting. "The Headmaster is a Demon King? Damn, I knew he was powerful, but not _that_ powerful." Kamiki muttered.

"They _did_ say he's been helping them for over 200 years, but most of the court still rioted whenever he proposed an idea. Almost more than when I spoke up for myself, actually. The Paladin hates anything related to demons and was seriously gunning for putting me under a guillotine!" Rin recalled, still heavily insulted.

"I explained my reasoning to sit next to you, I didn't want a conversation." Kamiki snapped and Rin flinched back, leaning more towards the window. "Right, sorry." She muttered, sinking down in her seat.

Unbeknownst to Rin, she looked like a kicked puppy and Kamiki winced. She hadn't meant to hurt the girl that time, she just didn't like socializing. The purple haired Miko watched Rodan coo and trill at Rin, who gazed out the window and watched the scenery go by with tired eyes. There were no bags under them and she looked wide awake, but it was obvious she was tired.

Rin eventually closed her eyes and dozed off with Rodan still cooing and trilling to her, his naturally hot body keeping her warm.

When Rin had been soundly asleep for more than five minutes, Kamiki turned around to glare at the Kyoto boys. "What do you want, Kamiki?" Suguro growled. "You're really gonna sit right behind her like creeps and just glare at her the whole time? What happened to your _friendship_ and _relying on each other?_ If you're gonna cut her off like that, sit somewhere else, you look like you wanna stab her in the back through this seat, you assholes." She hissed.

"Why the hell do _you_ care? I thought you only cared about yourself and maybe Paku?" Suguro snapped back.

"I just hate people who can't keep their promises. Especially simple ones. Cowards who say things like   
'We have your back, trust us.' and that you’re ‘friends’ when all they know is to run away at the times they were needed most are the worst kind of people. Pretty words will _never_ save you! So if she _does_ turn on us one day, it'll be _your_ fault and you'll probably be the first to go, and _I'm_ gonna be laughing.” She said.

"Kamiki, do you have a crush on Rin?" Shima asked suddenly. Kamiki wanted to slap him. "Of course not _you fucking dunce,_ I just apparently care about how people are treated more than you do. Especially girls. If we were judged by our parents actions, who would we be labelled as? I'm saying that she hasn't done anything to hurt us so far, so why are you all clenching your assholes and playing the silent game like a bunch of pussies?" Kamiki rolled her eyes.

"Did you _not_ see her in the forest? She fought Amaimon hand-to-hand at some points! She held off the _Demon King of Earth,_ Kamiki! That doesn't seem dangerous at all to you?!" Suguro pointed out.

"She fought Amaimon because he was about to kill you, you _fucking idiot!_ She fought him for _you!_ She kept him away from us that whole time even when she lost control! If you hadn't showed up to be a dumbass and gotten yourselves injured by _laughing at the Demon King of Earth,_ she wouldn't have had to save us and loose control to beat him like that!" It was a shouting match now and Suguro was making less valid points than a monkey. Kamiki was easily winning this argument with her sound logic.

The result of their shouting match was the Bariyon punishment. They'd woken up Shura, who was pissed about it and she punished them all, even though Rin and Shiemi weren't doing anything. Rin had slept through the whole thing and Shiemi had just watched in worry.

No one said a word the rest of the ride, but Rodan really wanted to screech just to piss Shura off more. "Sorry buddy, but I'd rather not get a worse punishment then this. If this is what I get for sleeping through an argument, I don't wanna know what I get when we wake her up on purpose." She grumbled sourly. He growled and pouted, but perched on top of the Bariyon in her lap to rest for the remainder of the train ride.

Kamiki didn't know if she was glad that Rin missed her standing up for her or upset over it. She didn't really care about the whole Satan thing and looking at logic almost always cleared things up. So far, Rin wasn't a bad person. In fact, she was better than any of the losers around them. And if Kamiki admired Rin for that just a little, well, no one needed to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Kamiki admires Rin and has developed a small crush on her. Who DOESN'T have a crush on Rin tbh? She's a cool person! She can talk with the girls about girly stuff and love girly things and then also roughhouse and joke around with the guys. I feel like even though Kamiki seemed bitchy and terrible, she still would've stood up for Rin as a girl. Two reasons: Girls are more mature than guys and remember details better, so that means Rin is slightly more likeable as a girl because she's less stupid. The second reason is that being judged by their parents is something Kamiki had to face as a child and she'd hate to see anyone else suffer from that, especially if that person was a totally innocent girl who struggled.


	19. R.I.P. Bon's Style

They arrived at Kyoto and both Rin and Rodan stared at the Kyoto Tower rising in the distance in awe. Kyoto was beautiful in a way Tokyo could never be.

“ **That’s the tower you were talking about?** " Rodan remembered excitedly. " **It's so tall!** "

“Are you the party from the Japan Branch?” A voice asked Shura and the others. Rin hurried to catch up to them. “I’ve been waiting for you! I’m the errand boy for Kyoto Branch Office. My name is Doi.”

“I'm Japan Branch Reinforcement Squad Captain Kirigakure." Shura introduced herself formally, but with an air of laziness, like usual. 

“Thank you for coming!” Doi thanked them, bowing respectfully. “I have arranged a bus for you. For the time being, I would like to bring you to where you will be staying so you can put away your luggage and settle down.”

“Nice. Please take care of us.” Shura responded.

An uncomfortable bus ride filled with people glaring or staring nervously at Rin and leaning away from her later, they arrived at a very nice Inn. It was a little ways up the mountain,but reachable by tourists.

Suguro, for whatever reason, looked annoyed at the sight of the building. Did he have trouble sleeping in beds that weren't his own? Rin u der stood that. It had taken her a while to get used to her flimsy bed at the Dorm. When they got inside, Rin understood why he looked like he'd rather be anywhere but there.

“Bon!”

“It’s Bon!”

“Bocchan?! You’ve returned, huh?”

“Welcome home!”

“And Konekomeru and Renzou too!”

“Wow! This is an occasion worth a celebration! Call Okami out here!'

"Okami, Okami!"

“Don’t!” Suguro growled. “This is no homecoming! I just happened to be assigned to come here because of my training as an ExWire and….Listen to me, damnit!” No one was listening to him and Rin was wondering what would happen next. Why was Suguro so frantic to stop them? And they called him Young Master too.

“Ryuji!” A beautiful woman came running from a hall of the Inn, and approached Suguro with a shocked expression on her face. She looked young, maybe in her twenties. Something about her face and her hair reminded Rin of Suguro. Were they related? She looked like she could be his older sister.

“You….” The woman's expression contorted and Rin recognized that expression too. It had been aimed at her by Suguro a handful of times. “You actually went and dyed your hair! You wanna turn into a chicken or something?! You sure have guts, stepping into this Inn again! Didn’t you say you were going to study and your only come back when you succeeded?!” That was quite a tongue lashing and the rest of the class was either uncomfortable or snickering. Izumo said something about Suguro being the young master of a temple, hence the nickname Bon. Rin was still confused.

“Like I said, I just happened to be assigned to come here for field training as an ExWire!” Suguro retorted, snapping right back. It was like watching two dragons fighting over gold. “And what did you mean, callin' me a chicken?! This hairstyle shows my determination!”

“What, the determination to look like a delinquent?!” The beautiful woman sneered. Rin had never seen such hostility between people without hands being thrown–not counting her and Shiro, that is. The woman wasn't wrong, what part of looking like a delinquent showed determination? Rin had the feeling Suguro had done the thing where he'd changed his look so when he came home after succeeding in his goal, he could show off and everyone would think he was cool. She didn't think he'd be the type of guy to do that before, but she could see it now.

“I just knew he’d get it for that hair of his!” Shima cackled next to Rin. "If _she_ reacts like _that,_ won't _your_ parents beat your ass over _your_ hair, Shima?" Rin pointed out. "Don't spoil the moment, I'm savoring this fun before I get made fun of by my family and we're all put to grueling labor work in the Kyoto Summer heat." He muttered, obviously not jazzed about confronting his family with his bright pink hair.

“Okami!” Konekomeru decided to end Suguro's torment via angry woman. “It’s been a while!” He greeted cheerfully, obviously trying to calm her down. “Hey there, Okami!” Shima joined him in his efforts. “Long time no see.”

“Neko! And Renzou too!” Immediately, Okami was welcoming and sweet. “You’ve finally come home! Oh, it’s good to see that you’re both well! It must have been tiring protecting Ryuji!” She gushed.

“Don’t make it sound like they were protecting me! I was just fine!” Suguro snarled. Okami finally noticed the rest of the class standing somewhat awkwardly in the hallway watching the whole thing transpire. “Oh dear, how terrible of me! You must be Ryuuji’s friends from cram school!” _Sure, we'll go with that._

“Pleased to meet you! I’m Ryuuji’s mother.” She smiled at them, a complete 180 to how she was spitting fire at Suguro just a moment ago. "You're his _mother?!_ You're way too pretty! And you look so _young,_ I thought you were his older sister or something!" Rin blurted out. Rodan screeched his agreement and popped up from behind her where he'd been clinging onto her shoulders. Since Rin's secret was out, she could put her hair up and let the summer breeze cool her neck.

“Stop it!” Suguro growled at his mother's behavior towards his class, blushing in embarrassment.

"Oh, you're so frank! Thank you, Dear!" The woman cooed at Rin, blushing. “This inn is Bon’s family home!” Shima said. “So this is where Suguro grew up, huh? I thought his home was the temple that got destroyed?” Rin didn't have the best filter sometimes. Thankfully, Torako didn't seem offended at all.

“It was, in the beginning, but our Temple couldn’t hold out. I took over Toraya Ryokan, which was my own family home. The Temple neither earned much from tourists nor had many patrons to support it, so a side-business was needed.”

“Sorry for asking.” Rin winced, looking down in embarassment. "Oh don't look so chastised, Dear. It's not your fault my son apparently doesn't know how to share his own origins with his friends." She threw a glare to her son, who glared right back.

“Okami,” Shura interrupted before they could start arguing again. “Thank you in advance for taking care of us for such a long time.”

“No, no, we're grateful for the continued patronage of the True Cross Order.” Okami assured the woman, taking the gift. “I’ve already exchanged greetings with the chief, so I’ll be heading straight over to help out at the Branch Office. I’ll leave half of the Doctors here, so please have them take a look at the sick.” Shura then turned to her students.

“Suguro, Miwa, Shima! This is the first time you’ve been home in a long time. Go make your rounds and say hi to your relatives, alright?” She ordered. “Moriyama, Kamiki, Takara, Okumura, you'll follow Mr. Yunokawa and assist him as he treats his patients. I know we’ve just arrived, but work hard! Peace out!” And with that, she left.

§~•~§~•~§

“There are a ton of people here!” Izumo exclaimed when they entered the sick ward.

“There are still another 15 or so people further in." Yunokawa told them. “For the time being, you kids can bring the medicinal tea for treating the sickness over from the kitchen. When you see that any of the IV drips are running out, bring over a pack of solution from that box over there.” He pointed to a corner filled with crates.

“Okay!” The students affirmed.

But when Rin went to get to work, Yunokawa stopped her. “Hold it. Not you, Okumura.” Rin frowned. Of course she knew why he'd stopped her, but she'd make him admit why before she listened. “Why? Is there something else for me to do?” She demanded.

“Hmm….go....collect something." The man ordered her. Rin scoffed. "Next time you don't want the demon helping you, just say it like it is. Don't waste my time with your bullshit excuses." She stormed off down the hallway to explore the Inn and hopefully find something to help with.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin had found some servants that said she could help with the laundry and that was what she did for a while before they let her take a break while the sheets dried. She wandered the halls of the Ryokan, admiring it's decor in her freetime. 

“Hey, you!” A voice whispered into the hallway. “Young lady!”

“Hm?” She turned she head and saw a bald head peeking into the hallway from an open door to the outside.

“If you’re free, could you lend me a hand over here?” The person requested quietly. “Sure." She said just as quietly, getting the hint that this person was trying to be discreet.

The older man led her outside to a tub of water with two watermelons floating in it. They were round and juicy, perfectly ripe.

“Those are some good melons!” She grinned. It was hard to find perfect watermelons in stores. " **I'd prefer if it was a fat pig.** " Rodan squawked and Rin snickered. She mainly ate meat as well, but she liked some fruit and veggies mixed in. It added a freshness to things. "Me too, buddy. We'll get some meat later."

“I’m going to visit the sick and wanted to surprise them with a treat. Will you slice them and help me distribute them? Help yourself to some too, once you’ve sliced them.” The man requested. He was overweight and had robes that were fancier than the other men around the Ryokan. His head was bald and his mustache reminded Rin of Kamiki's eyebrows. His expression was friendly and open and his eyes looked familiar to her.

She also noticed he smelled like alcohol and couldn't help but chuckle as she took the first watermelon out and began cutting it. "Little early to be drinking, Old Man." He reminded her of Shiro somehow too.

“Ah, I've been caught! It’s so hot, I can’t help myself!” The Priest scratched his cheek as he laughed sheepishly. Rin grinned fondly. "Fishy Priest. You remind me of my dad."

“Hah! What an interesting girl you are!” He exclaimed. “Judging from your uniform, you must be from the Exorcist Cram School. What’s your name, Dear?” He wondered. The girl heaved a sigh. "Rin Okumura." She answered honestly, tail waving irritatedly behind her.

"Ah." He surprisingly didn't say anything else. "I'm Tatsuma Suguro. You should know my son, Ryuji." He introduced himself. Rin nearly chopped her own finger off in surprise. "Okay, _how_ did you and Okami make a guy that constantly looks like a gremlin that's been stabbed in the kidneys?!" She demanded, giving the man an incredulous look. He belted out a hearty laugh, once again reminding her greatly of Shiro.

“We look alike, don’t we?” He asked. "You would if he ever _smiled._ Or made any other expressions besides spot-on impersonations the Gargoyles of Notre Dame." She admitted. "Though he definitely has your eyes. He has his mom's hair though." Rin and Tatsuma both laughed at that one. People never found Rin this funny, this was nice.

“So, you must be friends with Ryuji?” Tatsuma guessed hopefully. Rin scowled and he snickered. "You too, huh? Yeah, he and I are also in the middle of a spat right now." He sighed. "I'd like to be friends with him, _he's_ the one acting like a baby and giving me the cold shoulder. He's a good guy, but he assumes a lot and he usually judges people by their actions without thinking of what caused them to act that way. Dude called me out for my ADHD habits within the first week of school and told me I was a waste of resources." She grumbled sourly, recalling the beginning of the school year. "You're something else, Miss Okumura." Tatsuma commented. "Oh, just call me Rin, please." She requested. 

"Alright. I’m glad to have met you, Rin!” He bid her goodbye and jumped over a wall. "We should talk again sometime!"

Rin was left to finish cutting the watermelons and distributing them by herself. Rodan hovered above her as she did so and then glanced the three trays in her hands and one on her head. The demon flew close to make sure the one on her head didn't fall as she started distributing the slices to the sick.

She walked into the second Sick Room to find herself in the middle of an intense argument between two men and three women. All of them were in bed, but they sounded pretty coherent for sick people.

“Ooh, I’m so scared!" The white-haired woman with a snake tattoo on her face sounded like Kamiki with that line. "You can’t even speak coherently, so you just use your fists. I can’t stand you bunch of useless Shima fools!” The young woman, along with two nearly identical girls on either side of her, threw disgusted looks at the two men who looked almost identical to Shima aside from hair color.

“What did you say?!” The blond mam demanded. “We’re _obviously_ in this mess because of Yaozo Shima’s leadership skills, or _lack_ _thereof_. And yet he’s lying in bed. Yaozo should just resign from his job as chief!” She definitely sounded like Kamiki now–all haughty attitude and biting words.

“Take that back, Hojo snake bitch! Don’t be so disrespectful to my Dad!” The blonde man argued. “Kinzou, don’t pick a fight with her." The black-haired man behind him requested, looking like he needed several shots of espresso and maybe a hug.

Kinzou ignored the tired man. "You’re just pushing the blame for your own failures on my Dad and that's bullshit! At least admit your own failures, wench!" The bickering continued and then turned into a physical fight with the white-haired Hojo women(they looked like triplets)turning their arms into snakes and Kinzou and the other man using staffs similar to Shima's. Rin figured they were probably related. She learned their names as they fought each other while she handed out watermelons, not wanting to get involved in the fight. Ao, Nishiki, and Mamushi were the three snake women. Kinzou and Juzou were the two men. 

Thankfully, the fight was ended by an outside force: Suguro. He did his signature move–a chant, complicated hand signs, and boom! a barrier formed between the men and women fighting. They stopped, looking to him in shock.

“Would you quit your bickering?! What are you doing?! Aren’t we all on the same side here?!" He demanded, scolding them about as good as his mother probably would.

The five people looked glad to see Suguro and greeted him warmly, argument forgotten. Suguro wasn't in the mood to recieve a warm welcome. “We’re being targeted by an enemy we don't even know! This is no time to be causing internal discord!” He growled, turning on his heel and storming out. Rin thought that if he was a Prince instead of a Master of a Temple, he'd have swept out of the room with a red cape, his honourable guards Konekomeru and Shima following dutifully in their silver armor. He still looked pretty important leaving the room like he had, though. Suguro was probably the only Authority Rin would ever trust. He may have been stubborn and kind of an ass, but he was good at getting things done and over with.

The boy actually snuck himself a slice of watermelon when Rin wasn't looking and she was surprised by how smooth he seemed to be. He looked at her like she'd burned down his temple when he was a baby any other time since the Forest, but he smirked at her as he took a piece of her watermelon now? Boys were weird.

" **Is that what humans call flirting?** " Rodan wondered curiously. Rin spluttered. "No! That's the opposite of flirting, Rodan. That's called being a prick. Don't be a prick, Rodan." She instructed. If Suguro wanted to play games, Rin would just flip the board every chance she got. She finished distributing the watermelon, whacked the guy named Kinzou on the head with the cutting board for starting a fight, and left the room. She passed Suguro, Koneko, and Shima in the hallway to the kitchen and let her tail sweep up enough to brush along Suguro's thigh. She didn't look back to see his reaction, but Rodan huffed what sounded like a satisfied laugh in her ear and she figured she'd successfully flipped the game board.

" **Try that on for size, chicken shit!** " The familiar screeched at the boy behind them. Rin heard a yelp from Konekomeru and things crashing–probably the crates of spare supplies along the walls. Suguro had tripped in surprise thanks to Rodan's loud cry directed at him with a note of smugness even a human could make out. " **Game Board successfully flipped, Rin.** " Rodan reported gleefully.

Suguro watched her go and felt his face burn at the sight of Rin walking away from them, the natural sway of her hips capturing his attention before it was drawn by the tail swaying in obvious satisfaction behind her. He caught sight of Rodan and his mouth dropped open as the familiar fucking _winked_ at him just before they turned the corner and were gone.

§~•~§~•~§

Later in the day, all the ExWires were put to work doing manual labor in the summer heat and humidity. Even Rin was breathing hard by the time it was dark outside, sweat beading at her brow.

"Haaah....I'm so tired after working all day!" Shima complained. "Shima, we all got to waltz around to say hi to our family for half the day." Konekomeru pointed out. He didn't mention that Rin had been on manual labor since that morning after passing out the watermelon slices, or that she was lifting more than any of the boys could.

The door to the inside slid open, and Torako peeked out. “Ryuji! Oh, the other boys and that nice young lady are here too! Perfect! Can you boys give me a hand over here?” Nice young lady, huh? And why just the boys? Rin had been doing a lot more than they had all day outside in the heat.

“Ugh, this work is never gonna stop.” Shima groaned. Rodan screeched at the boy indignantly while Rin did her best not to snap at her pink haired classmate. "Shima," She said calmly. "I've been doing this _all day._ You've lifted a few screws and a hammer and just complained. If you can't handle manual labor, I'm gonna tell you right now that there is no way you're gonna be an Exorcist." She looked at him with a deadpan stare. Shima at least had the decency to look embarrassed. "I'll take your place doing whatever Okami needs." She said.

"Oh, you don't need to help dear. The boys are better suited for this job!" Torako told her politely. Rin raised an eyebrow. "Better suited, my ass." She pushed past Torako to see what the job was. The rest followed behind her. "I need you to carry all of the catered meals here to the guardroom at the Branch Office.” Torako told them once they'd made it to the kitchen. "That's it?" Rin wondered.

Torako gave her a weird look and to demonstrate, Rin simply picked up two stacks of the meals with no problem.

Torako gaped at her, but she didn't look disturbed. She actually looked impressed. "That's amazing!" Then the woman turned to her son. "Why can't _you_ be that useful? Shima complains and you look like a gargoyle while Konekomeru stays silent and bears with it and this lovely girl lifts more than all of you combined!" Suguro sputtered while Torako marveled at Rin's strength. "Oh, Dear, I really appreciate your help and hard work!" She gushed to Rin.

"Just call me Rin, please. It's easier." Rin said kindly. "Oh, than you just call me Torako. No need to be so formal, you're helping us so much, Rin!" Torako was so nice to Rin that she wondered why Suguro was so pissy about being home when his mother was this sweet. She would've done almost anything to have a mother like Torako. Or a mother at all.

They made it to the Branch Office with little difficulty and delivered the meals as requested. 

Shura thanked them. “You guys must be exhausted after working hard today.”

“I am, but it wasn't the worst job I've had.” Rin admitted, shrugging a shoulder. Rodan trilled in agreement and Shura smiled, scratching the familiar under his chin.“Why don't you all head back and rest? Tomorrow’s gonna be an early start too.” The woman suggested. She handed them meals and juice to drink with it. Suguro started to ask a question, but Rin waited outside with the other two boys to give the guy some privacy.

She figured he didn't get the answer he'd wanted when he stormed out of the building, right past her, Konekomeru, and Shima.

“Suguro! Hey, Suguro! Your bento!” Rin called after him as he kept walking ahead of them, refusing to acknowledge the girl's calls.

"Gorilla, _would you stop for a minute and get your food, you stupid prick?!_ " Rin exclaimed in irritation. Suguro finally stopped, spun around, and snatched the meal and drink from her hands, glowering down at the half-demon. Rin growled at him, baring her fangs. "Stop being such a nuisance!" He groused. "Stop being such a bitch!" Rin retorted. Suguro turned away and stalked off angrily.

“That guy mist have been _born_ angry….” Rin mutter sourly as she sat down on a big rock on the side of the path, letting her tail drape over it next to her. "Konekomaru, do you wanna eat together?” She offered. The boy apologized and left, saying he had to pay his respects to his parents even though he'd already done that earlier(Rin had seen him while doing the laundry).

The half-demon sighed and looked down at her food, not feeling so hungry now, but knowing she needed to eat or risk passing out and needing to be revived in a hospital. She'd learned her lesson the hard way not too long ago on a weekend when she'd barely eaten anything for breakfast and missed lunch and then didn't eat much for dinner. She needed the food to give her the energy to keep her metabolism stable and her powers fully functional.

Rin opened the meal and poked at it with her chopsticks. She opened the can of juice and took a swig. She noticed the different taste, but she was too upset and too tired to really think about it as she kept drinking and eating her meal glumly.

“Uh.…” Shima stood there awkwardly. “Y'know what, I’m just gonna.…”

“If you're gonna make an excuse, make a better one than Konekomeru's, will ya?" She snapped at the boy, feeling strong resentment well up in her like she never let it. Shima looked surprised and nervous.

“N-no!” Shima sat quickly on another large rock, across the path from the tipsy half-demon. "That's an awkward distance to talk to someone Shima." Rin pointed out, cheeks starting to flush red the more "juice" she drank. She was still just as blunt as when she was sober.

"Ah, I don't want to crowd you on that rock, Rin. You need space for your tail and your familiar." Shima said. It was a valid point, so Rin let it slide. Rodan, apparently, did not. The demon flew over to the boy, nabbed his uniform shirt in his sharp talons, and dragged the teen over to Rin. The familiar still didn't understand the thing about humans and their personal space or about what was viewed as inappropriate by humans, so he dropped Shima in Rin's lap.

Shima froze and Rin looked confused. "I closed my eyes for two seconds??" She said. "Why are you on my lap?"

"I...Rodan." He answered meekly, still sitting stiffly in the girl's lap. "Yeah sure, blame your perviness on the demon." She snickered, wrapping her arms around his waist to keep him there. "It's okay. I wouldn't have let you sit in my lap if you asked, but props to you for just doing it yourself. I'm lonely anyways." She laid her head on his chest, expression the saddest Shima had ever seen it. Shima sighed and wondered if she was going to say anything else when he heard a light snore. He looked down and Rin was _sleeping!_

"Seriously?!" He cried. He carefully moved off of the girl's lap and caught her when she slid off the rock.

"Hey, Rin?" He whispered, shaking her lightly. The girl grumbled and turned her head away from him. "Leave me alone, you all hate me anyways." She she grumbled, still mostly asleep. Shima felt a pang in his chest at the words. He didn't hate Rin at all. She was still amazing to him, he just didn't like troublesome things. Maybe ignoring the girl wasn't the way to go about this. It was easier to just interact with her and watch the smile spread across her face rather than avoiding her and being at the mercy of her regretful looks and sad expressions when she thought no one could see them. Rin shouldn't be sad like that. She was like a ray of sunshine. She should never look so crushed just because people didn't like her.

He hadn't realized just how soft Rin really was until now.

He elected carrying her piggyback style was the easiest way to move her and carried the sleeping girl to her guest room. Before he left, he took out her ponytail, remembering his sisters' complaints about their scalp hurting if they kept their hair up for too long. He also took her stockings off so the circulation wouldn't get cut off in her legs–another thing his sisters' complained about. He spread a thin blanket over her and watched her curl up under it before heading for the door. Rodan regarded the boy with suspicious eyes all the way up until he left the room, closing the door silently behind him.


	20. Lighting Candles With A Flamethrower

Rin gave a huge yawn as she stumbled into the cafeteria-like dining room of the Ryokan and sat down heavily at a table, still trying to get her eyes to stay open. On one end, that was the best she'd slept in months. On the other end, she didn't want to wake up and hate her life when she was sleeping that well. Rin sighed and grabbed a bowl, filling it with rice and grabbing herself some chopsticks. She didn't remember much from last night, but she at least woke up in her own bed, so that was good. Her hair was down and her stockings were off, which was a little suspicious, but nothing else was amiss and Rodan didn't say anything, so she didn't ponder it any further. She'd woken up with a headache, but it had faded pretty fast–perks of demon healing.

Rin had taken a shower, brushed her hair out and braided it to keep it out of the way, and gotten dressed in a low-cut black crop top and high- waisted denim shorts, electing to go barefoot around the Inn. She'd put on her own clothes instead of the school uniform since the students were allowed to.

Suguro had caught sight of her when she walked in and froze, chopsticks halfway to his mouth. Rin quirked a brow at him when his eyes finally found hers after looking her up and down very obviously, lingering on the belly button piercing for a suspiciously long moment. She winked just to mess with him and he ducked his head quickly.

She sat at the table beside Suguro's, back facing him and Konekomeru as they ate their food. She heard Suguro saying he didn't remember anything from last night and figured he also hadn't realized the juice was actually alcohol.

“Good morning, Rin!” Shima greeted her brightly. Rin furrowed her brows in confusion. "Uhhh....Good Morning? Any reason for the sudden friendliness?" She could feel Konekomeru's troubled gaze on her back. "Eh, it's too much work to avoid you and it's kinda my fault Koneko and Bon got hurt that night, so it's not like the whole thing was all you, you know." He admitted, offering a sheepish smile to the girl. "Yeah, I specifically told you idiots to _stay back_ and you all did the exact opposite. Were you channeling my authority issues or something?" She wondered, deciding to just go along with it. A friend was a friend. Shima laughed and grabbed himself some food to eat.

"Nah, that one goes to Bon. He took off first. Me and Koneko are supposed to protect him while he's away from home, so we had to follow after him. We all had a part in that forest disaster though." Shima told her. Rin agreed and kept eating her rice, a smile gracing her features. Shima smiled too. Rin looked much nicer when she was smiling. He was proud of himself for being the first person to draw one out of her for the first time since the Forest.

“REEENNNZZZOOOUUUUUUUU!” The blonde man from the Sick Room Incident came flying into the room, a flying kick aimed at Shima's head. Rin's instincts kicked in and she tucked Shima against her as she caught the man's foot and flipped him backwards. His brother caught him with a barely concealed snicker.

“What the hell was that, Kinzou?!” Shima cried, pushing away from Rin's cleavage in his face where she'd tucked him against her side. “That was a flying kick, Idiot Renzou!” Kinzou snapped. Rin was seeing a pattern with their names and found it very amusing.

“ _You’re_ the idiot! Trying to kick me across the room while I'm eating, I could've died!” Shima exclaimed, batting at his older brother in retaliation. Rin shook her head, smiling wider at the scene. Juzou stepped forward, greeting the three in a friendly manner and ruffling Shima's hair.

“You guys feeling better already? That's good.” Shima changed the subject as the two men sat down across from them and grabbed themselves some food of their own. "They seemed like they were fine yesterday even when they were in the sick room." Rin grumbled, recalling the fight the day before between the Shimas' and the Snake Girls.

“We weren’t hurt very badly to begin with.” Juzou brushed off the concern. “I’m going back to the Branch Office this afternoon.” He finally noticed Suguro and Konekomeru behind Rin and Shima and called out to them. The two teens exchanged an awkward look that went unnoticed by the men in front of them before continuing to eat their food. “Koneko, Bon, what are you doing over there? Come eat with us!” Juzou beckoned with a smile. "Ah, actually, I'm done. I'll see you later." Konekomeru did his best not to have a tremble in his voice, but it was obvious anyway. Suguro followed the boy with a grunt, still hungover with a lingering headache.

Juzou frowned. “What’s his issue?” He wondered. "He's never been able to say more than a few words to me since the beginning of the year. I've been told I can be intimidating." Rin answered. It wasn't untrue. Konekomeru still didn't speak to her much unless she specifically asked for details on a question in class and he seemed intimidated by how much bigger than him Rin was.

"Sorry, but who are you? I know you were giving out watermelon yesterday to the sick," Kinzou said. "Thanks for that, by the way." Juzo interrupted quickly. "But I never got your name." Kinzou finished. Rin laughed at their speaking over each other before introducing herself.

"You can call me Rin. Going by my last name is difficult since my twin is an Exorcist and people are always calling him." Rin shook their hands with a smile. "Ooh, strong grip." Kinzou noted. Juzou smacked him on the back of the head without dropping his smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Rin." He greeted. Kinzou was too busy staring at her low neckline to say anything. Rin ignored him.

“I didn’t know that Shima had older brothers. He never mentions his family at school.” Rin said. "Ah, yeah. We've got a big family. We had our oldest brother who died, Takezo, then Gozo, our older sister Jun, then me, Kinzou, Renzou, and our younger sister Yumi." Juzo explained. "Yeah, and you're all your own types of pains in the ass!" Shima groused. Rin did her best to stifle her laughter. "I can barely deal with my twin brother and he's all I got....how is it possible to raise _seven kids?!_ And the financial situation should be _staggering!_ " She wondered in awe and slight fear. All three of the Shimas' around her burst out laughing.

"You're not wrong there, hah! Gozo and Jun are the only ones who have never suffered the irritation of hand- me-downs." Kinzou admitted, wheezing. "I only have my brother and I still got hand-me-downs...." The girl grumbled. "Oh? Happens to the best of us. Where are you from, besides True Cross Academy?" Kinzou wondered.

"Actually, we lived in Tokyo. But uh....not the nice part with pretty buildings and rich people waltzing around. My brother and I grew up in a poor monastery and so all our clothes were donations, along with our toys, VHS/DVD Player, the stuff we watched on the thing, and any accessories I owned. And I shared clothes with my brother for the longest time until middle school." Rin recalled all the times she'd wished bitterly that she could have something of her own.

"That also means she grew up watching every Disney Classic to exist in English, so her English is great." Shima added. Rin grinned. "And Titanic, Princess Bride, the first season of the old MacGyver, some John Wayne Westerns, A Batman Movie, A Double Feature Set of Superman movies, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and several others. So I just know all these American Pop Culture References that no one here in Japan ever gets. They're entirely useless to me in life, but it's what I grew up with." Rin listed off the things she'd watched over and over as a kid and preteen. All those had been destroyed in the attack months ago and she really missed watching them and saying the words along with them.

Kinzou looked more and more impressed by the minute as she talked. "I think it's cool to know people who are different from everyone else. Makes life more interesting." Rin blushed and looked down at her food, eating it to avoid having to say anything while her ears burned strawberry red.

"Kinzou, stop flirting with her!" Shima complained, face also red. "Are you married?" He asked the boy. "No." Shims answered.

"Is she married to anyone?"

"No."

"Than she's free." Kinzou wore a victorious grin as Rin collapsed on the table laughing. This situation was ridiculous and it felt so nice to be treated like a normal person for once.

Before she could say anything, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. A glance behind her told her it was Shura. "You need to come train with me since you're free enough to joke around at breakfast." The woman told her, pulling her along. Rin pouted, but turned followed her. The faster she got this training completed, the easier life would be for her.

§~•~§~•~§

An hour. She melted the candles into lumps of wax stuck to try roof tiles.

Two hours. She melted the two on the outside at every try.

Two and a half hours. She was getting really impatient and was almost to her boiling point.

Three and a half hours. Rin was ready to both cry and punch something hard enough to send it flying into the sun. Lighting these candles was like trying to light a sick with a flamethrower.

Almost four hours of straight candle training/torture and finally, Rin got it right.

She was so tired and her eyes hurt from staring hard at that same spot for so long that she didn't believe it at first. She blinked and rubbed at her eyes, but it was there. The wicks of the candles on the outside were both lit, flickering peacefully. Her reaction was delayed, but eventually, she stood up and cheered, picking Rodan up from his place in her lap and spinning him around. "I–I did it?! I did it, woohoo!!" Rodan screeched in delight and nuzzled her chin with his beak, nipping at her jaw fondly. " **Good job, Rin!** "

"Wait, what?!" Shura put her book down. "I missed it, do it again!" She ordered. Rin extinguished the flames on the wicks of the candles and then relit them with a wide and somewhat tired grin aimed at the woman. Shura grabbed her in her signature headlock/hug and squeezed her. "Good job, kid! You've completed the very first part of your training!" She congratulated.

Just then, they heard a deep **_BOOM!_** reverberate through the air and both women whipped their heads in the direction of the sound to see smoke rising. Rin groaned, but took off, knowing Shura would just drag her to the place anyways.

"Shit! That's the Branch Office!" Shura cried. They walked in to see Suguro arguing with his father, holding onto the man's sleeve. Tatsuma obviously needed to leave, he had that urgent look in his eyes, along with fear that only Rin knew how to spot when it was hidden so well.

“From the very beginning, Mamushi’s betrayal, us being in this state, everything is _your_ fault!” Suguro growled. He was doing this in front of the whole Branch Office. Rin wanted to smack her own forehead. Suguro was going to be forever known for his bad timing if he kept this streak up!

"Is what Mamushi said about you betraying us true?!” Suguro demanded. "No! Of course not!" Tatsuma looked scandalized, and rightfully so. Rin couldn't imagine this man ever hurting people unless it was purely accidental.

“In that case, with everyone here present as witnesses, right now, tell us the truth!” Suguro was pushing at things he didn't understand. Rin knew a thing or two about keeping secrets. Sometimes, secrets were kept to protect people. If Suguro couldn't understand that everything didn't revolve around him and his Daddy Issues, he'd only keep hurting himself emotionally until he was a wreck. And he'd wreck his relationship with his father too.

“The truth? That’s a secret! A secret I can’t even share with _you,_ my son.” Tatsuma looked tired as the boy let go of his robes. “I really wish I could just bring it with me to my grave, but everything is happening now and it is _urgent,_ Ryuji.” Rin felt bad for the man.

“Don’t you be acting like my father now, you old bastard! Don't you dare act like my father ever again if you're just gonna leave now in the middle of everything!" Rin's heart broke some at the words. She remembered those words coming out of her own mouth, months ago.

“Ryuji...." Tatsuma pleaded. Rin hated this whole scenario and rushed in without thinking. It was a bad idea, especially when she was low on energy and easily irritable at this point after hours of training and being frustrated and only running on breakfast.

Suguro's face contorted even more when Rin stepped between him and his father.

"Suguro, there are times you need to put aside your own issues for everyone else's needs to be met first. If Mamushi just took off with the Right Eye, than someone needs to go after her! The problems are not your dad's fault but you're too angry to see it! Let. Him. Go!" She insisted. She turned to Tatsuma. "Go! Try to stop this before it gets outta hand!" She told the man, who nodded. He left, slipping something into Shura's back pocket on his way.

"Why do _you_ of all people get to lecture me about my problems with my dad?!" Suguro growled. "Because when parents keep secrets from you, it's to protect you or because they are sworn to secrecy. Don't be an _idiot,_ Suguro, you're smarter than this!" She growled right back.

"Is that what the guy who raised you did? Look what happened, you're stuck in the middle of a shitstorm, failing classes, trying not to burn down the whole school whenever something pisses you off and the man who raised you is in a coma. Wow, that turned out _great_ didn't it?!"

"This isn't about me! I told my father the same thing you just did and he's in a coma now! Don't you see what words can do?! Don't destroy your relationships over such petty things!" Rin told him. "I don't wanna hear that from the girl who said she was gonna defeat Satan! Who the hell do you think you are?! You have even less right to say shit like that than anyone else!"

Suguro knew it was cruel to bring all that up, but he was so angry he didn't care. And he regretted that carelessness when Rin's fist connected with his jaw and nearly broke it. He fell back as the girl stood over him, glowing with ghostly blue flames lighting the room around her, a sneer on her face as she looked down at her classmate.

"You have _no_ _right_ to talk about me like you know me when you won't bother to even speak to me like we're five year olds who got in an argument in preschool, you _self-righteous prick!_ You think I _asked_ to be Satan's daughter?! You think I _wanted_ to have to bargain for my own life, to watch all these humans cower away from me, to constantly be afraid I'll kill someone just being around them?! This life is misery and you will never understand how good you have it! So stop being such a little bitch and make up with your Dad god damnit!!" She snarled at him, slitted electric-blue eyes livid and betrayed before the girl hunched over with a scream. While she was incapacitated, people rushed forward to pull Suguro back with them, away from the blue fire.

Rin crumpled to the ground, horrible, blood-curdling screams spilling from her lips as Shura walked forward, chanting something under her breath. The cuff at the base of Rin's tail tightened relentlessly. The woman crouched so Rin could hear her. "You're gonna get yourself busted. Just calm down, alright?" She murmured. That was the wrong thing to say to the girl she was currently torturing. Rin threw an elbow out and caught the woman in the stomach, _hard._ Shura coughed and the effect of the chant faltered. Rin gratefully went limp and passed out.

Suguro watched all of this in shock as people pulled him to them, helping him stand, handing him ice to put on the bruise forming on his jaw, muttering about 'that horrid beastly girl trying to kill him with Satan's cursed flames.' He hated it. He hated everything that had just happened. It was all his own doing. This incident meant Rin might get an execution order for lashing out at a seemingly innocent person who was powerless against her all because he was human and she was Satan's daughter. The Order didn't care that Rin had amazing control of her strength and chose to only bruise his jaw instead of punching him through a wall, or that Suguro had instigated the whole argument.

He watched a man drag the unconscious girl away, Shura following behind them, looking regretful.

§~•~§~•~§

“Woah! What happened, man?” Shima gasped when he saw Suguro sitting in the kitchen with an ice pack held to his face, looking dejected. The ExWires aside from Rin were all gathered there.

“The Right Eye of the Impure King was taken from the Branch Office.” He answered. "And how did you end up with a bruise the size of Rin's fist on your face during that?" Shima wondered. They all looked at him weird and he shrugged. "I've been punched by Rin a lot, if you haven't noticed."

“Rin has been put in solitary.” Suguro added glumly. "What did she do?!" Shiemi wondered, scandalized. "She tried to help me and I was already angry from arguing with my Dad, so I pointed out everything in her life that sucks and she hit back three times harder, with her fist. But she lost control and burst into flames in front of the whole Branch Office when she punched me." He explained, looking dejectedly at the floor as he kept the ice pack held to his face.

“Wow, the one time you're served what you deserve and _she's_ the one that gets in trouble. This is ridiculous!" Kamiki remarked sourly.

“So what’s going to happen to Rin?” Shiemi asked nervously. The girl was wringing her hands anxiously and Suguro sighed. "Kirigakure hurt her somehow with a chant and Rin elbowed her in the gut to get her to stop. Even if the woman doesn't report it, the whole Branch Office will. The Order will probably vote for an execution." He said honestly. Shiemi's bottom lip wobbled and he looked away from her.

§~•~§~•~§

Rin woke up in a cell, the last place she wanted to be. It was made entirely of wood, strangely enough. Rin could easily break out of the cell if she wanted. She elected to just sigh and lay on the floor for a while longer, tired both emotionally and physically from the day's events. Someone cleared their throat and Rin looked up to see Shura on the other side of the bars. Rin snorted and laid her head back down.

"Look kid, I know this isn't the best situation, but–"

Rin cut her off with a harsh laugh. "Not the best situation, you say? I was already gonna get shit for this when the reports were submitted, _why_ would you do this to me?! Now I get to sit back and watch everyone die if things go south with the Eyes, _thanks_ for that! And if I break out, I'll be shot down! Have fun defeating the Impure King on your own! I hope you're the one to tell Shiro how I died if you make it out of this mission alive!" Rin curled up on her side, facing the back of the cell.

She was so tired. Tired of struggling. Tired of having to prove she wasn't evil just because her dad was. Tired of letting people hurt her. She was too tired physically to even cry at this point. She just wanted to sleep and forget her problems.

Shura sighed. "I'm sorry. I know what I did was cruel. But I didn't know how to calm you down. Your flames surprised me and I just...." She trailed off. "Anyway, before you decide this is how it ends, read this. Please." A letter was slipped through the bars of the cell and Rin used her tail to pull it to herself, still not looking at Shura.

Before she could open it, Yukio stumbled in. He spotted Shura and figured out Rin was in that cell. "Rin!" He dropped to his knees in front of the bars and stuck his hand into her cell. She grasped it gratefully. His hands were warmer and bigger than hers and covered her petit fingers. "Are you okay? They haven't hurt you?" He asked worriedly. "No. The only one who hurt me is standing next to you." She glared at the woman. "But," She added before he could turn to Shura in retribution, tension leaving her shoulders again as she let her hand slip from his. "This is my fault. Suguro said something horrible to his dad and it reminded me so much of that night and I stepped in without thinking. He hit a sensitive spot and I flamed up in front of everyone." Rin closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see his disappointed face.

"You've been training your flames, it's not your fault that asshole can't deal with his Daddy Issues like the genius he's supposed to be." Yukio's voice was dark and Rin smiled slightly. "I punched him too." Rin told him. "He deserved it." Yukio said bluntly. Rin gave a weak laugh. "I-I'd just been able to do the candles like, ten minutes before the whole thing though. I did it twice! I was so proud of myself for finally having some control over my flames...." Now the tears pricked her eyes and she blinked them back.

"Oh, Rin. That was just the beginning. You knew things would be hard from the start, but you chose to push and make your own deal with the Order. You keep pushing. Your will to always keep going is something I've always been jealous of, you know. Please don't stop now before Dad wakes up and sees how far you've come." Yukio pleaded. "They're gonna try to execute me, Yukio." She reminded him. "They can't. You've come this far, why let people judge you for being born? We'll fight back. You don't deserve what you get, sister." Yukio reached for her again and Rin sat up, letting him hold her hand.

"I thought you'd be mad at me for this." Rin sniffed. "I do wish you had more control when it came to these things, but I'm angrier over Suguro being such a brat when he acts like such a goody-two-shoes all the time. I'm angry at your class for being so narrow-minded–even Shiemi! All these people act so dramatic over one little thing and act like just because they found out you're the daughter of Satan, you'll just flip the switch and kill them all if they piss you off. You only punching Suguro for doing that should be proof, but no one will listen." Yukio muttered angrily, squeezing her hand. He nodded to the paper on the floor. "Read the letter."

She opened the letter and frowned at it, squinting at the words. “I can’t read it?”

Shura grabbed the letter back from her. “Geez, I know you ain't a genius, but I didn't think you were illiterate!” Then she looked at the letter too and furrowed her brow. Rin raised an eyebrow. "Geez, Shura, I know you're not a genius, but I thought you could at least read!" She threw the word back in the woman's face, mocking. Shura pouted and Rin gave her a smug grin. "Sup, kettle."

Yukio rolled his eyes and snatched the letter from the woman's hands, eyes skimming over the words. "That's because it's in cursive. I'll read it to you." He volunteered.

" _Greetings, I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Rin Okumura. My name is Tatsuma Suguro and I am a monk living in Kyoto. As for why I am writing this letter to you, that is because I have a very important request to make of you. However, I understand that you must be confused at receiving a letter like this from a stranger. So let me begin with a story from the past. I don’t have a special way with words, so forgive me if my story jumps around from place to place._

 _This is a story about the time not long before your birth...._ " 


	21. How I Met Your Father

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, before we begin the backstory, I'm just gonna tell y'all this now: there's a fanfic on Ao3 called The Father's Story and it's basically Shiro and Tatsuma's backstory, but gay. Imma make that canon in this AU, but Tatsuma couldn't really tell the adoptive children of his Favorite Guy™ all the juicy details, so there ya go. I suggest you read that because it will come into play later in this story. Enjoy!

“Torako!” Tatsuma held his wife’s hand as she lay in her bed, heavily pregnant and very sick. She gripped his hand weakly, trying to reassure him that she and the baby were fine. It did the opposite.

“Tatsuma…” Torako whispered, smiling to ease his worry. “This child and I are just fine. Go back to work, please?”

“Tatsuma.” Yaozo called, poking his head into the room. “The Most High Priest is calling for you.” By the look on his face, Tatsuma knew he was probably going to get more crap from his father. Reluctantly, he left his wife’s side and went to find his father, the Most High Priest of the Myōu Dha Sect. 

“Tatsuma!” his father rasped angrily. “What are you doing?! Don’t be skipping out on your duties! It is _your_ job to protect everyone from the impurity of the Right Eye! If you miss out on even a single day of conversing with Buddha, Buddha will turn his back on us! His power will leave you!” Tatsuma had heard this several times and was more than sick of it, but he would obey his father because there were no other solutions to their problem.

“I haven’t been skipping out, father!I’ve been doing this daily for seven years! And yet nothing good has come of it! Instead, fifteen people are dead and more are dying still! Torako’s practically at death’s door, along with our baby! Can everyone really be saved by us performing the Goma Ritual?!” He protested.

“What else can we do?” His father argued. “Following the priceless teachings of our ancestry is the most ideal to….” He stopped talking to cough, the blisters on his face bubbling disgustingly. _Yeah,_ Tatsuma thought darkly. _Praying is definitely helping you._

“Most High Priest!” A servant rushed to help the man stay upright. He was a determined man and stopped for nothing. No matter what he lost along the way, Tatsuma's father went on to see all his religious duties in the Myou Dha Sect to the end, even after Tatsuma's mother died and the man himself fell violently ill.

“I will return to my duties. The duties that you, too, will someday take over. When I die, you will discover the secrets of this Temple, and you will also keep these secrets with you until the day you die. If Torako dies, get yourself a better wife. Producing an heir is also an important duty you must fulfill, is it not? Cast aside all that is of this world.” Tatsuma's father left him with those harsh words.

Tatsuma wasn't a violent man, but the comment about getting a "better" wife and _having_ to produce an heir made him angry enough to want to deck his father. He loved Torako and couldn't imagine having to raise a child with any other woman. He dreaded bringing his own child into the Temple he grew up in. He only hoped he could give his child a good life. If the child and Torako made it.

Tatsuma hated feeling so powerless. He was born the seventeenth successor of the Myou Dha Sect’s lineage of Most High Priests. All of their followers worked hard to fulfill their duties every day, all for the sake of protecting the lineage of Most High Priests. 

Just then, from the sky, a winged demon came crashing down, and with it, the white-haired man who had just finished slaying it. He carried a double barrel shotgun, blasting the demon full of shells as they landed.

The priests on the ground were panicking during the whole thing, unsure what to do about the stranger and the demon corpse now laying on top of their Homa Mandala. 

“What just happened?” Tatsuma wondered.

“Ow….” The man who fell from the sky groaned, rubbing his head, which had stark white hair covering it. Suddenly, a long wooden box hit Tatsuma in the head and he fell over backwards in surprise. The other priests did not take that well, and they rushed to him. He brushed them off.

"Damn what’s up with this mountain?! It’s frickin’ infested with demons! That clown bastard Mephisto! He just left out whatever the hell he wanted! I didn't dress for freezing temperatures!” The man still standing on the demon corpse griped.

“Who are you?” Tatsuma asked curiously. The man finally noticed all the people gathered around and surveyed them before shrugging and going back to examining the sword in his hands.

“You heathen! You’ve got some nerve destroying our ritual like this! Get down from there!” Yaozo pulled his staff, stepping towards the man.

“Hm? Oh, don't mind me, I just needed this thing!" The white-haired man called down, waving a sword with a dark blue sheathe around.   
“That’s.…!” Tatsuma nearly choked. That man was holding their object of worship like it was a plaything! “The Koma sword, huh?” The man mused. He slung it over his shoulder so it rested across his back. “I’ll be taking this.”

“What?!” Tatsuma squawked. “What are you saying?! That’s Myou Dha’s Honzon! You can't take that, we need it!” It was the worst fist meeting ever, but Tatsuma found the man strangely interesting, even if he was stealing their object of worship.

The Koma sword was a katana that had been passed down as the honzon of the Myou Dha Sect. for generations. It was also called Kurikara. Around 150 years ago, the Impure King, who brought with him an epidemic, appeared. He turned all of Japan upside down. The founder of Myou Dha, Fukaku, made a deal with the fire demon, Karura, to possess the sword. It was said that he felled the Impure King with the power of those flames of Karura. The sword was regarded as the Honzon of the Myou Dha Sect through generations. A law was made that the remaining Left Eye of the Impure King would be sealed away from the world, kept safe by the Myōu Dha. 

Yaozo and several.servabts protested against the man and he sighed in irritation. "You're all so noisy. If you want it, come and get it!" The man challenged. "But is there a point? This thing is empty!" Tatsuma cringed at the man's spilling of information.

“You’re spouting lies to make us cooperate with you, but it won't work, heathen! How long are you planning on holding on to our Honzon?!” Yaozo growled, leaping forward to attack the man. Yaozo struck with his staff, was blocked, and then he stumbled forward as the man fell backwards into the snow, red staining the snow around him.

"I barely touched him! The idiot's already injured!" Yaozo gasped as Nekosuke checked the fallen man's vitals.

§~•~§~•~§

The white-haired man blinked his eyes open slowly, brows furrowing as he took in his surroundings. He felt an ache in his head and groaned, closing his eyes again. The Myou Dha priests had carried him to safety per Tatsuma’s request. Tatsuma watched over him, examining his belongings while the man was passed out.

"True Cross Order, Japan Branch, Upper First Class Exorcist, Shiro Fujimoto. Hm." Tatsuma read the information off the ID card found on Shiro's person after he collapsed “You’re 34, which makes you younger than me. You don't look thirty four.” Tatsuma told the man.

“Where am I?” Shiro asked groggily.

“Kongo Shinzan, Fudoubuji. I'm Tatsuma Suguro, the heir to the position of Most High Priest at this temple. You suddenly collapsed on top of a giant demon corpse after trying to steal our Honzon. But, there was no way I could just leave you like that or have you tossed down the mountain, so I brought you here to heal.”

“Well damn.” Shiro sighed, rummaging around in his jacket next to him before pulling out a cigarette and putting it between his lips. “Yeah, you coulda just chucked me off the side of the mountain, but I'm glad you didn't. You're too kind to the guy trying to steal your object of worship." Tatsuma leaned forward and bent the end of the cigarrete upward in peaceful retaliation for the comment. “Hey!” Shiro protested, frowning.

“Fujimoto, how much do you know about the Kurikara? Why do you want it?” Tatsuma wondered. "I don't personally want it, but my superiors said it was a mandatory object and sent me to retrieve it. All I really know is they'll be killin' some kid with it." The man admitted, looking totally uncaring of the horrible words that just came out of his mouth.

Tatsuma was taken aback. “If you can move around, then please leave as soon as possible.” He stood quickly before turning to leave. “I don’t care what circumstances there are. I _will not_ care for a child-killer in my temple.” Just thinking of a child–just like the one growing in his wife's belly–being murdered using Kurikara made him feel sick to his stomach.

“I’ll leave, but you’ve gotta hand over the Koma sword first.” Shiro agreed.   
“You haven’t given up on that yet? I don’t even know where exactly in this Fudoubuji it is!" Tatsuma said in both exasperation and irritation. "Orders are orders." Shiro shrugged.

“Ah, I don’t have the time to obliterate each temple. It’d be much faster and easier if I just asked you instead. So, where's the sword?” Shiro Fujimoto was a persistent man and hell bent on following his orders, it seemed.

In response, Tatsuma pulled a vajra club from his robes and brandished it at the man.

Shiro had the audacity to laugh, further irritating the heir. “What’s that? You plan to take me on with just that useless thing? Give it up already, I'm not leaving without Kurikara.” Then he doubled over with a groan, coughing. Tatsuma's instincts had him immediately going to help the man. Shiro used the opportunity to push past him and bolt out the door.

“Hey! Hold it!” Tatsuma ran after the man chased after Shiro. The white haired man skidded to a stop in front of a door and flung it open, freezing in his tracks at the sight before him.

Too late, Shiro threw the door open, revealing all the sick and injured people, affected by miasma. He swept his eyes around the room. “What the fuck is this?!” Shiro demanded, looking over the room full of sick people. He saw the men praying and clenched his jaw. He lunged forward and kicked the altar over.

"Praying isn't gonna save you, you bunch a' pansies! This is a farce!" Shiro exclaimed, obviously put off by the ritual of attempting to pray sickness away. 

“Hey!” Tatsuma cried, grabbing onto the back of Shiro’s yukata. “Do you know what you've done?! If we stop our conversation with Buddha, Buddha will abandon us, and we won’t be able to attain his power!” Shiro rounded on the man, snarling.

“Then let me ask you, Baldy, did praying ever do these guys any good?! How many of you have died?!” Shiro demanded. The look on Tatsuma’s face was enough to tell him there were too many who had never recovered. “You’re just a coward masquerading as a Saint, Tatsuma Suguro. I hate people like you the most! Prayer won't save these people. We need to pull the toxins from the miasma out of their bodies as soon as possible.”

“You….you can save them?!” Tatsuma got closer to him, looking hopeful.

“Yeah, I can save them all. Probably.” He turned to a servant watching the whole scene and started giving orders before anyone could question that last part. “Hey, you! Get me radish, onion, valerian, myrtle root, rock salt and eagle’s claw! Oh, and some beeswax or lard!” He ordered, easily taking charge of the situation. The servant scrambled out of the room to retrieve the ingredients.

Shiro turned back to Tatsuma. "You, boil me a shit ton of hot water! And someone get me a light, will ya?!”

§~•~§~•~§

Shiro worked fast and efficient, creating a medicine to be consumed as a drink or, for some of the worse off victims, a paste to spread over the boils.

As he walked into the room holding his pregant wife, Tatsuma was ecstatic! Torako was sitting up in bed and had more color to her skin than she'd had in days. "Torako!" Tatsuma hurried in and threw his arms around his wife. Torako laughed and placed a fond kiss on the man's cheek. Shiro stood in the doorway, watching the scene with a strange sort of detachment. "Thank you, Fujimoto! You saved us! When you said you were here to take the sword, I was sure you had to be a terrible person. I was wrong.” Tatsuma thanked the Exorcist.

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “This and that are entirely separate matters. Hand over the sword.” He said. Tatsuma gave him a shocked look and Shiro rolled his eyes. "I'm no Good Samaritan, Tatsuma. I saved over half a Temple full of people including a pregnant woman and several children. I still need the sword, so hand it over." His cold eyes peered down at the man and his wife through red-tinted glasses.

"If you won’t tell me, I’ll just find it myself. You’ll never get anywhere if you’re afraid of getting your hands dirty.” From the cold expression, Shiro had gotten his hands dirty plenty of times before. Tatsuma could tell he didn't enjoy it, but he'd do it nonetheless. Shiro made to leave and only made it a short ways down the hallway outside the room before he was stopped, Tatsuma following after him.

The current Most High Priest towered above the Exorcist, glowering at the man. Shiro wasn't intimidated in the slightest and waited patiently for something to happen. “That’s the guy!” A servant cried, pointing an accusing finger.

“Seize him!” The Most High Priest ordered. Two Hojo men flanking him summoned snakes to detain Shiro and the man sprung out of the way, taking off over the snow covering the mountain. The Hojo men gave chase.

“Father, what are you doing?!” Tatsuma asked. “Don’t let that thief get off this mountain alive!” The Most High Priest ordered. He looked at his son.

“Tatsuma! Don’t expect this mistake to go unpunished! He’s an exorcist from the True Cross Order! How could you bring a pagan like him into our Temple and allow him to cast his spells here?!” The younger man cringed at the threat of punishment. "He saved everyone! He saved Torako and our baby!" He protested.

“I don’t care about that! Any outsider who knows about the Koma sword and even a little of the Myou Dha Sect’s secrets must die! I bear on my shoulders the responsibility of protecting Myou Dha!” Tatsuma's father would not budge.

“Father, what you’re protecting are merely the laws. I….I am different.” Tatsuma turned, and sprinted away, ignoring his father calling after him.

§~•~§~•~§

Shiro skidded to a stop when Tatsuma jumped in front of him. "Woah! What are you doing here, Tatsuma?"

“Take it.” Tatsuma offered the Kurikara to Shiro, who took it suspiciously. “The Koma Sword? Is this a trick?”

“I know a safe shortcut, so follow me.” The two resumed running. "So this isn't you fuckin' with me?" Shiro guessed, a note of hopefulness in his voice. He wanted to go home to something. Or someone. The man's need for the sword seemed urgent if Tatsuma really listened. He'd said the big wigs wanted the sword, but something important to Shiro was definitely a part of the ordeal involving the need of the sword. Tatsuma smiled back at Shiro at the realization. Shiro Fujimoto could act as cold as he wanted, but there was a heart in there somewhere.

“When I was a child, I once secretly unsheathed the sword. I wanted to see Karura, you know? Neither Karura nor any flames appeared at all. That sword is empty. I knew it all along, and yet….I’ve stopped worshiping an empty shell, and I’ve finally found the resolve in me to fight. And it's all thanks to you!” He admitted, throwing a grin to the man following close behind him. 

“I’m going to kill a kid with this, you know?” Shiro reminded him.

“You can't do it. I know it.” Tatsuma said. “Ugh, you’re a hopelessly good guy.” Shiro groaned while Tatsuma laughed. They could hear their pursuers getting closer. "Just jump down there and keep going in a straight path down the mountain! This makes us even!" Tatsuma instructed. "Nah." Shiro shook his head. "This makes us friends." And with that, he jumped down and disappeared through the foliage and falling snow.

The story of Fujimoto and Tatsuma ended there. A few months later, the Blue Night happened. The Most High Priest died after leaving the true secrets of the Head Priests and of Myou Dha to Tatsuma. The worst secret was truly frightening. In the middle of the Blue Night, Tatsuma succeeded as the Head Priest of the Myou Dha Sect and came to know all its secrets. 

" _Please, save us Rin Okumura. I want you to use the_ _Koma_ _sword to defeat the Impure King. I know that this is an unreasonable and reckless request. But if you can find in yourself a heart of compassion like your father’s, I want to depend on that. Thank you for reading this far. Tatsuma Suguro._ " Yukio finished the letter and they were all silent for a moment.

"So he wants me to fight for them, huh?" Rin sighed. Yukio took Kurikara from Shura and slid it into the cage. "It's your call, Rin." He said seriously.

"Unsheathe it." Shura ordered. Rin obediently tried to pull the sword and found it wouldn't budge. She knew why, but it was clear her twin was confused. "What's wrong?" He wondered. "She's lost confidence in herself to use the flames." Shura answered for her. Rin wouldn't look at them and just stared down at the sword. "She'd just managed to control her flames ten minutes before the incident and then she acted up so easily. She's too disappointed in herself to use the flames."

"I....I'll still fight. Even without the flames." Rin decided. "Rin! I know you're really strong, but fire is _needed_ because you have to burn things like the Impure King away! You'll _die_ trying to fight it without your flames!" Yukio protested. "I have to try." Rin said, even less sure than before.

Just then, everyone's least favorite clown bastard showed up to give some cryptic speech and generally be a pain in the ass.

At a snap of his gloved fingers, a new door appeared on the cell and Rin was pulled inside of it, shrieking in surprise. The Director turned to the two Exorcists. “The Vatican just sent me a message because an Imprisonment Spell was used on Rin. It has been decided that Rin Okumura will be executed.”

He sent Yukio and Shura away and snapped himself to who knew where.

**Author's Note:**

> So Rin is gonna act differently and be snappier and more intuitive in this. I literally spent hours studying the differences between women and men(psychologically)and there are a lot of differences between Fem!Rin and O!Rin. But, I did find out that O!Rin has some tendencies that are usually things females have, so that's cool and kind of adorable.


End file.
